You think that everything is black and white. Good and bad, and you're all good. Well, guess what? There's darkness in everyone, even you, new girl. I just choose to embrace mine while you avoid yours, and that is what makes me a survivor.
Cindy Burman is the most popular and most disliked student at Blue Valley High School. Cindy's mean girl antics initially placed her against Courtney Whitmore and her group of friends. After becoming friends with Courtney, she became a lot more nicer, however keeping some of her mean girl fierceness.
The daughter of Dragon King, a longtime enemy of the Justice Society of America, Cindy was determined to follow in her father's footsteps as the supervillain turned anti-heroine Shiv. She was Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl's nemesis and a thorn in the young heroine's side, before becoming her friend, and a controversial member of the Justice Society of America. After quitting the JSA, Cindy joined the Young All-Stars, where she went on to become the heroine Dragon Queen.
Cynthia "Cindy" was born to Dr. Shiro Ito and his first wife, Suzanne Ito in Blue Valley, Nebraska. Shiro sought to conduct experiments on Cindy that would change her physically and emotionally. To avoid further trauma, Suzanne took Cindy and fled Blue Valley. They eventually settled in Farmersville, California. A fearful Cindy worried that her father would find her, though Suzanne assured her they were safe. That very night, Dragon King returned and took Cindy and Suzanne back to Blue Valley where he began his experiments. He started by placing shiv's in her wrists that allowed her to do irreparable harm to those around her. She grew up studying chemistry and became very advanced physically, mentally, and in her education.
When she was in the third grade, Cindy lost control of her powers and accidentally murdered Suzanne. She was devastated by the loss which Dragon King also blamed her for. On her first day in the fourth grade, Cindy addressed her class over the death of her mother and merely stated that she didn't like her mother anyway. After this, her father sought a new caretaker for Cindy but the first woman didn't work out for unknown reasons. He then kidnapped Bobbie Burman and made her into Cindy's caretaker and public stepmother. Following the death of her mother, Cindy's personality began to change into a more viscous and cunning young girl. She became the meanest girl in school during the fourth grade, and continued her tyrannical rule well into her years at Blue Valley High School.
By 2019, Cindy was the head cheerleader, best friends with the popular girls, and seemed to have it all. She opposed Yolanda Montez for school president but was tasked by her father to get close to Yolanda's boyfriend Henry King Jr. to see if he exhibited any telekinetic powers like his father. One day, she witnessed Henry showing his friends topless photos that Yolanda had sent him the night before. She snatched the phone from his hands and saw the images, though Henry quickly took the phone back. At the election, Cindy sent the images out to the entire student body and faculty. She humiliated Yolanda and forced a breakup between her and Henry. Cindy then promptly began dating Henry.
Two popular girls greet Courtney Whitmore in the hallway of BVHS to welcome her to the school. The one girl introduces herself as Cindy Burman then gestures for the other to do the same. The second girl introduces herself as Jenny Williams, then asks if Courtney is from California, to which Courtney responds that she is. Cindy extends an offer to hang out sometime, which makes Courtney happy. She starts to give Cindy her number but Cindy stops her, claiming she already has it. She then tries to recruit Courtney to the cheerleading squad, saying that she needs a new second. Jenny seems offended saying that she thought she was Cindy's second. Cindy coldly tells her that she needs someone who can do the splits, to which Jenny states that she's trying but her family suffers from short tendons but she's trying her best. Courtney tries to remedy the situation saying that she isn't a cheerleader, but Cindy takes this as her not wanting to hang out. Courtney claims that isn't what she meant but Cindy cuts her off saying that she'll see her around - or not. Cindy and Jenny both saunter off when Cindy's conversation with Courtney abruptly ends, with Jenny trying to confirm if she is still the second. The pair are seen again in the cafeteria after Courtney's incident with Henry. Cindy calls Courtney a bitch for shoving her boyfriend.[1]
The next day after an assembly, Henry King Sr. prowls the crowd as he reads everyone's thoughts, searching for someone. He finds a curly-haired blonde talking to Cindy Burman. He goes over and stares down at the blonde, despite both girls being visibly uncomfortable.[2]
Cindy partners up with Jenny for the school talent show. Joey Zarick noted that Cindy and Jenny always win since it's Nebraska and twerking still packs a punch. Later that afternoon, Cindy saunters over to Yolanda Montez who is taking books out of her locker. Yolanda's locker now has a beautiful floral mural painted over the word SLUT which had been painted there earlier. Cindy teases Yolanda about the flowers and taunts her. Cindy reminds Yolanda that she never should have dated Henry after Cindy realized she liked him. Yolanda stays silent during the onslaught so Cindy asks Yolanda to say what she is - a slut. Courtney confronts Cindy for the slut-shaming but is retorted that no one cares about her opinion. Cindy leaves and Courtney's prepared to go after her but Yolanda stops her, saying it'll make it worse for both of them.[3]
During a flashback to three months ago, Cindy places a "Vote for Cindy" poster over Yolanda's voting poster. She glares at Yolanda as she greets Henry Jr. Henry and Yolanda, a happy couple, walk down the hallway together smiling happily. Cindy Burman walks past them and Henry barely glances at her, paying the most attention to Yolanda. The next day at school, Henry is gathered with his friends by the lockers. He is showing them the sexy photos Yolanda sent him the night before. He lowers his phone as his gaze follows Yolanda as she passes and he continues to smile. Before he knows it, Cindy snatches the phone from his hand. She sees the images of Yolanda on his phone though he quickly grabs it away, scolding her and repositioning his backpack nervously causing her to scoff at him. At the assembly for student government elections, Cindy is sitting the audience smirking. She looks at her phone and swipes across her screen. The student and faculty's phones buzz and everyone looks at the nude images of Yolanda on their phones.
In the present day, Henry runs into Yolanda in the hallway and apologizes for knocking her off-balance. He awkwardly continues only to be pulled aside by his girlfriend, Cindy Burman, who interrogates him about what Yolanda said to him. He tells her it was nothing but she pushes him on. He blows her off and walks away, ignoring her yelling his name after him. Jenny looks to Cindy unable to believe that Henry just blew her off. Cindy is visibly displeased with him.
She takes it upon herself to confront Yolanda, accompanied by Jenny. She soon taunts Yolanda, telling her that she knows Yolanda said something dirty to him. She presses that he's seen enough of her - everyone has. Courtney quickly defends Yolanda who sneaks away as a tense standoff between the girls emerges. Cindy warns Courtney that she has no idea who she's dealing with, but Courtney returns the sentiment. Cindy stands close to Courtney warning her that she'll never see her coming before angrily walking off with Jenny.[4]
Halloween in Blue Valley is a big night for Cindy, as she prepares for the party raging on downstairs. She applies lipstick, blush, straightens her color, and puts in her fangs. Her mirror is littered of photos of her with Jenny, Henry, and an old picture of an unknown man. She stands and admires her vampire costume before going downstairs. She immediately finds Jenny and criticizes her for wearing the same costume as her. Jenny mistakenly thought that Cindy would like it if they matched, but Cindy cruelly shuts this attempt down. She coldly berates her for being short and weight-shames Jenny before telling her to go change. When she turns around she sees someone wearing a Gremlin's head. She gives the person a strange look and brushes past them.
As the party rages on, Cindy finds Henry and eagerly greets him, wanting him to comment on her costume. He coldly states that it looks like Jenny's, which annoys her but she stays silent. He is irritable and in noticeable pain, so she asks what his problem is. He states that it's loud but she counters that it's supposed to be loud it's a party. She then rudely tells him that he's been a real downer lately which surprises him. He reminds her that his father is in the hospital but she dismissively tells him that maybe he should go there since it's quiet in hospitals. Henry downs his drink throws it on the floor and walks out of the party. Cindy scoffs and calls after him but he ignores her so she stiffens, a strange look on her face.[5]
Days later, Cindy finds Henry brooding at his father’s bedside at Blue Valley Medical Center. She makes her presence known, which surprises Henry and he asks what she's doing there. She tells them that she came to see him and apologize for her actions at Halloween. He admits that he feels as though he can wake his father up if he tries hard enough, but Cindy agrees that it sounds crazy. She instead tries to lockdown homecoming dance plans, but Henry is in no mood for the dance. She tries to remind him of fun but he still doesn't want to go as he wants to be with his father. She pretends to understand and hugs him, clearly annoyed once he can't see her.
Cindy goes to school and plows through Courtney, Rick, Yolanda, and Beth, then snaps at them to watch where they're going. She calls them losers before she flaunts off. Courtney asks her friends why Cindy Burman is so mean, to which Beth explains that Cindy was so nice in third grade until her mother died. She then became mean in fourth grade. Rick isn't buying the pity and claims that Cindy is just mean.
Cindy walks through the halls and takes out her frustrations on Jenny, who is excited to attend the dance with Travis. Cindy claims the dance is lame and for losers like Jenny and Travis. This prompts Jenny to ask Cindy why she is such a bitch. Cindy freezes and turns around, asking her to repeat herself. As a result, Jenny tells Cindy that she's glad Cindy won't be at the homecoming dance because she needs a break from her. Cindy retorts that the feeling is mutual as Jenny saunters off. She turns around and collides with her janitor who mops over her white shoes. Cindy exclaims in shock then berates the janitor and knocks the mop out of his hands as she storms off.
She storms over to Henry and calls out his name, but he hears her both telepathically and audibly causing him to wince. He asks her to not be so loud which confuses her. She brushes it off saying that he's taking her to the Homecoming dance. He declines again telling her that he's uninterested in going, but she reiterates that he is taking her to the dance. He finally snaps saying that if she wants to go so badly she should just take someone else. He then leaves her alone by the lockers to which she mutters that she wishes she could.
In chemistry class, Courtney convinces Cindy to be lab partners with her despite Cindy initially being uninterested. Courtney uses that time to share that she, too, lost a parent. Cindy gives her brief condolences that her father died. Courtney stares at Cindy as she expertly mixes the chemicals faster than any of the other students. Eventually, a rather annoyed Cindy asks Courtney what she's staring at. Courtney responds that she hasn't seen Cindy look at the directions for the experiment once. Thus, proving that Cindy is quite proficient at chemistry. Cindy explains that as a kid, her scientist father used to leave the cabinets open on purpose. She quickly explains that they did "experiments together for fun". Courtney thinks it sounds fun which makes Cindy smile a little. As the girls ace their assignment for the day, Cindy invites Courtney to hang out with her Saturday night, instead of going to the “lame” homecoming dance. Courtney, not having any other plans, gladly accepts. She then makes a joke about Cindy texting her because she has her number, a nod to the first time they met. Cindy doesn't get it and leaves.
When Cindy returns home after school, Bobbie Burman, her latest stepmother greets her and asks how her day went. She hopes it went well, but Cindy calls her out for not wanting her day to go well. Cindy notes that if she were Bobbie, she would be hoping that Cindy got run over on the way home. Bobbie is quiet but states that she's retiring to her room early, something the displeases Cindy, who threatens to tell her father that Bobbie is mistreating her again. Bobbie pleads with her not to and eventually, despite orders from her husband Dr. Ito, she fetches her teenage stepdaughter some pinot noir and cheese. Cindy proceeds to visit her father unannounced by entering his lab via a keypad, something that Bobbie warns her against. Cindy snaps that if she announces herself he'll just say he's busy like always.
She then descends a series of staircases and navigates a slew of tunnels until she reaches the Injustice Society of America Headquarters. She scoffs at Solomon Grundy, who growls at her, along the way. Cindy overhears Sportsmaster giving the others a play-by-play of his and Paula’s face-off with Stargirl and the JSA. Paula wants to get their respective kids involved in the investigation into this junior-size JSA, but Jordan nips that notion in the bud. Cindy repeats "Stargirl" but is suddenly yanked away before the ISA can see her.
Cindy is grabbed from her eavesdropping perch and brought to her father’s lab down the hall. She makes it clear that she is bored with her teen life, wanting a seat at the ISA table. She practically rules BVHS anyway, not Principal Bowin. Dr. Ito dismisses this notion immediately and barely pays attention to her. To prove her point and skills, she produces a blade from her wrist and nonchalantly slashes one of her fathers carefully cultivated assistants. Noting that Cindy has learned “nothing” from her mother’s death. Cindy, now serious, tells him that she was a child. Dr. Ito reminds her that he gave her powers to protect herself, not to “enhance her tantrums”. When Cindy takes a liking to the suit on display, her dad implores her not to touch it, which she ignores. She takes the staff from the wall and begins to twirl it but it is snatched away angrily by Dr. Ito, who scolds her. He tells her to stay focused on Henry in case he exhibits the same powers as his father, Brainwave. Cindy tries to tell him that Henry didn't inherit his father's gifts and wants to dump him, but Dr. Ito presses that she stay with him.
At the Homecoming game that night, Cindy watches in utter disgust as her squad performs a cheer. She remarks that they are all terrible, just as Courtney appears behind her. She turns and remarks that they could use her on the team because everyone else is just awful. Courtney ignores the invitation and asks if they can reschedule their plans for Saturday. Cindy asks why and is confused when Courtney tells her that Cameron asked her to the dance. Cindy calls him an art freak which Courtney takes offense too. She tries to rectify the situation but Cindy sharply tells her to forget it - forever. It's Courtney's loss, not hers. She ignores Courtney and goes back to the squad. By the time she turns around, Courtney is gone.
After the game, Cindy storms into her father's lair screaming from him but he doesn't answer. She demands one of his minions tell her where her father is and when they don't respond, she pushes them away. She tries two codes in the keypad of another sealed door but they both fail. She emotionally throws herself against the door before solemnly admitting that her father is never there for her when she needs him. It is then that Stargirl unwittingly triggers a motion sensor in the tunnels. Cindy sees Stargirl on the CCTV and decides to take action. She suits up in the Shiv suit that she saw earlier, complete with daggers.
Shiv attacks Stargirl once the latter is back in the halls of the school. She throws Stargirl into the ceiling and then against a wall. When Stargirl can recover she looks over at Shiv and realizes in fear that it's Cindy Burman. Shiv takes out her scepter and blows fiery blasts at Stargirl, who barely manages to escape.
Taking their scuffle to the gym where the dance is to be held, the girls continue to fight in brutal succession. Stargirl fires cosmic blasts while Shiv tests out her newly discovered dragon scepter, that shoots fire from its mouth. She whales on Stargirl, barely letting the girl get the upper-hand. At one point, Stargirl shows a blast that seriously burns Shiv's face. Stargirl is horrified, but in a matter of seconds, Shiv's injuries miraculously heal and she smirks. Shiv eventually gains the upper hand by using her wrist blades to slice Stargirl's hands, causing her to release the staff so Shiv can throw it aside. She is about to deliver a finishing blow noting that she needed this today and thanks Stargirl. Before she can stab downward, Justin arrives and blocks her strike with his sword. He then hits her with the sword and knocks her aside where she lies beside Stargirl, both girls wounded. Shiv is still healing from the fight, and barely awakens in time to escape the gym before Pat Dugan can arrive, calling from Courtney. Shiv scampers away into the darkness.[6]
Cindy triumphantly returns to her father's lair from her fight against Stargirl, announcing that she did what no one else in the ISA could - she found Stargirl. Dr. Ito already knows this and gestures to the monitors. He comments that she didn't alert him, and asks if Stargirl's dead. Shiv answers probably, and he takes her Staff and angrily throws it, saying Stargirl survived. He sent minions to collect the body but it was gone. Shiv tells him she beat Stargirl, but there was someone else there but she couldn't see them. He deduces it was another JSA member and begins to angrily berate her for taking the Shiv suit "before graduation". He continues about her reckless actions that almost jeopardized everyone. Cindy counters that she hurt Stargirl, to which he doesn't doubt as he snidely says she hurts a lot of things. She demands he stop bringing up her mother but he coldly states that he didn't mention her mother. She begs for him to listen to her but he's done. He laments how instead of focusing on his important work, he had to explain his daughter's ill-attempt to the other ISA members, and notes she might never get her seat at the table now. Shiv exclaims she did nothing wrong, but he angrily tells her that Stargirl was in the tunnels and is still alive. He orders her to go back home and he'll call for her when the time comes. She stares in defiance, and he dares her to make him remove his hood. Out of fear of his true form, she leaves the lair and he returns to his work.
At the Whitmore-Dugan household, Barbara tells Courtney that one of her friends is here to see her if Courtney is up for it. Courtney claims she is but is horrified to see Cindy, who offers her a bouquet of red balloons. Cindy greets her with a classic "hey, new girl" and releases the balloons in front of Courtney so they float to the ceiling. She heard about the crash and wanted to check-in. Barbara leaves, and Cindy looks around her room, complementing it as "thrift store chic". She says she doesn't do this, like ever, but says she owes her an apology, much to Courtney's confusion. Noting her facial expression, she clarifies the incident yesterday, remaking it was one of those days and blaming it on Henry, her father, Jenny, and Courtney bailing on her, so she overreacted. Thus, she apologizes, ensuing silence from Courtney. Cindy plops down on the bed, inadvertently hurting her, and remarks that they should eat the chocolates.
As Cindy knit-picks through sweets, she fails to notice how uncomfortable Courtney is. Or, just doesn't care that the girl is uncomfortable. As she lays in bed, Cindy says she realized something yesterday - they're not that different, and in fact, they're kinda similar. Courtney asks what she means, and Cindy elaborates that it's their dad's and stuff. She remarks that if things were a little different, Courtney would be a lot more like her. Courtney repeats the statement, to Cindy's reluctance. She finally admits to Courtney that she needs a friend, and receives an uneasy smile.
Once the afternoon is fading, Cindy remarks that the chocolates were her calorie count for today, and announce her leave. Courtney thanks her for stopping by and she approaches it. But before she's in the clear, Cindy says she almost forgot something. She compliments her Staff and calls her Stargirl to her shock. Cindy taunts that after the time they spent together, that she wouldn't recognize her under the mask. Cindy tells her not to worry, in that her secret is safe with her as she didn't tell her father if it meant getting sidelined. Sighing, she tells her to rest up. She warns her she'll be back after - she kills her friends.
Cindy returns home and saunters through the kitchen, ignoring her stepmother's flirtations with a man under the sink. She enters her bedroom and begins removing her sweater and calls out to her mother asking about dinner, but Bobbie doesn't respond. She then hears rustling outside. She looks around her window but fails to see anyone around, so she closes the window and returns to what she was doing. On the roof hangs Wildcat, who helped Beth and Rick escape.
At the King residence, Henry explores his father's secret room. As he is exploring, he roots through what he believes to be mail until a photograph of his girlfriend, Cindy Burman, catches his eye. When he takes out the letter he is confused to find that Cindy's father Dr. Shiro Ito had been corresponding with Dr. King to arrange for Cindy to enter Henry's life and spy on him.
As night falls, Cindy prepares for bed but quickly notices that someone's been in her room. She notices her father's photograph is missing and calls out for her mom. She begins rummaging through the desk for the photo. In the reflection of the mirror, Stargirl can be seen riding the Cosmic Staff. She bursts through the window, shattering the glass and tackles Cindy to the ground. Cindy is on her feet and barely dodges a targeted blow from the cosmic staff that destroys her nightstand. Now annoyed, Cindy pulls a shard of glass out of her cheek and tosses it to the ground. The skin around her wound regenerates instantly. Stargirl asks what Cindy did to her friends, to which she casually responds nothing - yet. Confident that she can defeat Stargirl like she did the night before, Cindy produces her blades from her wrist and attacks Stargirl and they engage in combat with Stargirl shoving Cindy into the closet and breaking the doors. She then blasts Cindy backward onto the bed and fires another cosmic blast that Cindy barely rolls out of the way from. It puts a hole in the wall. Stargirl, now fed up with the antics, throws the staff at Cindy and it hits her in the stomach. The staff carries her outside and throws her to the ground.
Cindy rolls into the street where Henry barely stops his car in time. She stands and looks over her shoulder at her boyfriend, who is in awe of the feat. Stargirl suddenly flies in and knocks Cindy over and they struggle on the ground before Cindy kicks her several feet away. Henry hurries out of his car to check on Cindy. She only quips back that she is going to kill that Star-Spangled Bitch. Henry asks who the costumed girl is but Cindy ignores him, produces her blades, and runs towards Stargirl. Both girls leap into the air and collide in a sea of sparks and crashing noises. They fight viciously before Cindy gains the upper hand and has Stargirl pinned to the street, a blade only inches from her face. Henry begins to hear the thoughts of both Stargirl and Cindy at the same time that Cindy verbally entices him to help her kill Stargirl. Stargirl, on the other hand, is mentally worried about the JSA and her friends. She doesn't want to die but Cindy is too strong. Cindy only wants to kill Stargirl - she has to kill her. The thoughts and emotions of the girls swirl in Henry's mind as he clutches his head, begging them to stop and to be quiet. The thoughts continue with Cindy's verbal enticings only quickening. Overcome with emotion, he grips his head just as green energy begins to appear from his head and swirls around his hands. He screams at them to get away and a powerful green energy blast projects out of his body and slams into Cindy and Stargirl, sending each girl in opposite directions.
Cindy rolls across the pavement but leaps to her feet effortlessly. She produces both her wrist blades and begins to stalk back to the fight when her father's minions grab under each of her arms. She screams and kicks in protest but they don't budge. They carry her to a sewer grate that is open, revealing a tunnel. They slide her down the tunnel upside down, the grate clanging closed behind her. She angrily squirms and screams in protest before grunting and going silent.[7]
The next day, Beth's goggles inform her that Cindy has been withdrawn from Blue Valley High School under the guise that she is studying abroad with her mother. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Dr. Ito continues to punish Cindy for disobeying him, going as far as locking her away in a cell inside his lair. He ignores her screams and protests to let her out. When those fail, she switches to a threatening tactic. She threatens to kill him just like she killed her mother. This catches Ito's attention, and he glides toward the cell door where she cockily admits to knowing he wouldn't lock up his only daughter. Without saying a word he closes the small window in the front of the door that allowed Cindy to peer out. She screams in protest but he ignores her as he returns to his blueprints. Cindy produces her wrist blades and slashes at the door angrily, screaming as she does so. Dr. Ito tells someone to turn on the gas as his daughter needs a nap. The gas always calmed her as a child. Her screams can be heard turning into coughs and, eventually, silence.[8]
The days pass with Cindy still locked in her cell, and she grows uncomfortable and antsy. When she goes to call for her father again she spots Stargirl and the JSA several feet away from her cell, spying on Dragon King and his minions. Cindy elatedly alerts her father of the foes' presence, calling out that "the bitch is here" and begging him to let her kill Stargirl. She watches Stargirl, Wildcat, and Henry fight off Dragon King's minions before Stargirl and Dragon King square off. Cindy once again begs to be the one who kills Stargirl as she wants to do it and will. Her father ignores her and, despite Cindy's protests not to fight, battles Stargirl and ultimately loses.[9]
Cindy remains in her cell as she watches her father prepare for Project New America's launch. She witnesses Dr. Ito open a door and asks where it leads and what's behind it, but he promptly ignores her calls. Brainwave arrives later that night is stopped by Cindy, who asks if Stargirl is dead. A furious Brainwave reprimands her, reminding her of her job to watch out for Henry Jr.'s powers emerging so that he could have time to help him, but because of her, he had to end him. Cindy snaps back that what could have helped Henry was if his father wasn't in the hospital wearing diapers while everyone else had to pick up on his slack. Brainwave approaches her door, taunting her of what her father truly thinks of her - a failed experiment. Cindy tells him her father loves her and that he's a liar. Brainwave asks her why he would lie but Cindy begs him that she could be a valuable member of the ISA. Brainwave coldly tells her they feel the same way as her father - they don't want her. He slides the panel in place, leaving her screaming and smacking against the door.[10]
Cindy is kept in captivity as the ISA attempt to fulfill Project New America, only thirty minutes away from succeeding. She watches from her cell as the JSA and the ISA begin an epic showdown in her father's lair. Dragon King and the Shining Knight slam into her cell door where their blades pierce the lock keeping Cindy contained. She uses this opportunity to sneak out of her cell. As Dragon King is about to impale Shining Knight, Cindy stabs him through the back and chest with her dagger. He falls to the ground as she coldly states that he never should have locked her up, calling him daddy one last time.
Stargirl and Wildcat attempt to break into the machine room where Cindy tackles Courtney to the ground. Courtney yells for Wildcat to continue on as she'll be fine. Cindy and Courtney begin a heated fight with stabs, thrusts, and punches being thrown from both sides. The fight breaks apart and Cindy unsheaths her wrist daggers, ready to fight again. Courtney, now annoyed with the girl's persistence, claims she doesn't have time for this and blasts Cindy into a wall. The teen falls to the ground unconscious, smoke billowing around her from the cosmic blast.
Cindy awakens after the battle is finished to find the ISA destroyed. She travels to William Zarick's storage unit and begins to tear it apart. She empties boxes, crates, throws aside objects, and shakes out envelopes. She takes a box down from the top shelf and sets it down, removing a smaller wooden box. She sets it on a shelf and takes out her flashlight, opening the small box and removing a blue diamond. She holds it up shining her flashlight on it. She smiles eerily stating that she's seen it in there, calling the diamond Eclipso. A sinister laugh comes from the diamond as Cindy smirks.[11]
Cindy returns to her house to find that Bobbie Burman has changed the locks and plans to sell the house to leave Blue Valley. Cindy greets her mom and holds up the black diamondEclipso, eerily saying that diamonds are a girl's best friend. As the diamond glows as does Bobbie's left eye. Cindy forces her mother back into the role of dutiful housewife and fearful mother. The next night, Cindy returns home wanting food again. Bobbie attacks her with a kitchen butcher knife and they fight, though Cindy gains the upper-hand quite easily. She sees Bobbie eyeing the dislodged knife and asks her not to do this. Bobbie lunges for the knife at the same moment that Eclipso takes over Cindy's body. A bright purple light streams from the diamond as half of her face turns black, the other half sprawling with black veins. Eclipso calls Bobbie sinful and holds up the diamond. He ignores her screams of protest as he absorbs her entire body into the diamond, leaving behind only a pile of ash where Bobbie once sat.
Cindy screams for Eclipso to let her go and resumes control of her body. He argues that he had to take control to protect her; but she protests that she can protect herself. She asks what he did to Bobbie. He fed off her hatred and desperation and corrupt soul. Cindy tells him that she’s in control and threatens to put him back in the box if he doesn't understand that. He concedes that he’s only here to serve. Cindy lowers the diamond and silently cries as she looks at the ashes on the floor, remarking that she didn't want Bobbie dead.[13]
In the days the follow, Cindy prepares to recruit members for her new team Injustice Unlimited. She scolds Eclipso for his recent murder, but he believes her lingering trauma from the death of her biological mother is the reason she's upset. He projects a hallucination of Cindy's mother but she forces him to send it away. She threatens to throw his stone in the deepest ocean if he ever tries something like that again. Eclipso submits that he's there to serve her. He then conjures a version of the Injustice Unlimited where the ISA portrait is, assuring her that their goals are the same. That afternoon, Cindy uses Eclipso to prey on Artemis Crock's fears of her parents being attacked by S.W.A.T. agents to make her vulnerable for recruitment. Because Artemis attacked Courtney Whitmore and Brian Tanner Balloid at football tryouts, she was dropped by a college recruiter. Cindy approaches Artemis after the game to apologize for her family's unfortunate situation, but offers her the opportunity to be a member of a whole new team - one that her parents were part of too.[14]
With her team slowly being built, Cindy targets Cameron Mahkent next. She watches him paint a new mural in dedication to his father, and remembers a traumatic childhood memory of being kidnapped by her father. As Cindy prepares to confront Cameron, she is stopped by his Grandmother Lily Mahkent who warns her to stay away from him. She calls Cindy and her father a monster, with Cindy snapping that Jordan was a monster too. Lily breaths out ice which Cindy finds interesting. This is enough for Cindy to leave Cameron alone for the moment. She confronts him later in the day when he visits the art room at Blue Valley High School. She apologizes for the loss of his father and wants to see more of his art. To her surprise, he refuses to accept her condolences. He remembers how crass she was after the death of her mother and knows Cindy has never been sorry for anything in her life. She extends a shiv from her wrist just as Paul Deisinger interrupts, forcing her to sheath the hidden blade. Cameron leaves the art room and Paul inquires about Cindy being back in school, but she snaps that she dropped out and shoves past him. Her actions caused Paul to be possessed by Eclipso and have a mental breakdown.[15]
Pat and Courtney learn that Cindy is back in Blue Valley and has The Black Diamond, so they prepare to confront her. Their plan is derailed when Pat is attacked in The Pit Stop and S.T.R.I.P.E. is dismantled. Pat is placed in the hospital with serious injuries. Cindy calls Courtney from Mike's phone, threatening to kill Mike if Courtney and her friends don't show up at BVHS by midnight. She plans to get vengeance on Courtney for everything she's done to her, but Courtney argues that everything that happened was Cindy's fault. Cindy reiterates her threat to kill Mike and hangs up. She is brimming with rage when she hangs up but Eclipso convinces her that this is all going to plan.
They arrive to a tense showdown against Isaac Bowin, Artemis Crock, and Shiv - the newly formed Injustice Unlimited. Stargirl demands to know where her brother is, but Shiv taunts her first, leading to the first blows being delivered. Stargirl and Shiv pair-off as they exchange brutal blows and blasts with their respective weapons. Shiv continues to taunt Stargirl over having Mike prisoner, and Stargirl manages to kick Shiv off a cafeteria table and onto the ground. She turns to see her team being overwhelmed by their counterparts and rides the Cosmic Staff through the cafeteria, taking out Isaac and Artemis so Wildcat and Hourman can gain the advantages. She circles back to Shiv who rolls out of the way. Stargirl and Shiv are soon locked in another battle as Shiv presses her wrist blades against the Cosmic Staff, pinning Stargirl to a wall. As they struggle, a recently freed Mike Dugan bashes Shiv across the head with a toaster. Their victory is short-lived when Shiv stands for another ambush. This time, Wildcat is propelled across the cafeteria by Hourman and knocks Shiv away from her team.
Now reunited, Stargirl and her team assemble in front of Shiv and her team, ready for another round. The Injustice Unlimited, however, is badly beaten and barely standing. Isaac meekly reveals that Wildcat destroyed his violin, so Cindy calls him a loser. She decides to do this herself and takes the diamond out of its necklace. Suddenly, The Shade arrives in a wall of shadows that surrounds the JSA and protects them from the light of the diamond. Shade warns Cindy that she has no idea of the power inside the diamond. She knows what she's doing but he scoffs that if she knew what it truly was she wouldn't be using it in a petty teenage rivalry. He instructs her to give him the diamond, triggering Eclipso to take control of Cindy's body, much to her screams to stop.
As Shade battles with Eclipso, Stargirl takes charge and attacks using the Cosmic Staff, against Shade's warnings. Eclipso relishes in the incoming attack. When the staff touches the diamond, it causes the diamond to shatter and Eclipso is set free. The blast causes everyone to fall to the ground, and Eclipso rises in his true form. Cindy realizes Eclipso tricked her and tries to attack him. Eclipso grabs Cindy's wrists, and sneers that they used each other. He tears out one of Cindy's blades from her wrist and throws it at Isaac Bowin, impaling him in the stomach, then throws Cindy against the wall. Eclipso approaches Isaac and relished in the impurities that he senses. Eclipso then absorbs Isaac's soul, turning his body into ash. Cindy gets back up, and demands Eclipso remember that she's the only reason he's here. She threatens that she should have kept him in the box she found him and starts to attack. Eclipso casually throws a piece of the shattered diamond at Cindy's feet, and it opens a black portal that pulls Cindy into it. Stargirl lunges for Cindy in an attempt to save her, but Cindy is ultimately engulfed in the vortex.[16]
Over a month later, Courtney is sent to The Shadowlands by Eclipso. She enters the halls of Blue Valley High School where she sees Principal Anaya Bowin and her son Isaac, both of whom had been killed during Courtney's escapades as Stargirl. Anaya quipped that new kids were always trouble, while Isaac merely missed his tuba. Before they could converse more, Courtney was attacked by Cindy who dons her Shiv costume. Cindy greets her as "new girl" with a smirk. The girls fight and Cindy slices Courtney's arm. She then freezes when she sees the blood. She realizes Courtney is actually there and not an illusion, as no one in the Shadowlands ever bleeds. Their reunion is cut short when the illusion of Dragon King appears, ready to torture Cindy more. Cindy promptly shoves Courtney through another door and they land in a little girls bedroom.
In the bedroom, Courtney learns that she is trapped in The Shadowlands. Cindy explains that it's place of despair and negativity where Eclipso was born. It feeds off the darkness in humanity and torments its inhabitants with memories of all the terrible things they had committed in their lives. All the people they've lost and all the mistakes they've made. Cindy learned about the diamond and Eclipso during her time at Diablo Island. She warns that Courtney will never survive the place as she's too good. She sees things in black and white but the world is more grey than that. Cindy also pressed that there wasn't a way out. She had seen people's souls be ripped apart by the things they endured in the Shadowlands. Though, Cindy viewed it as a personal paradise as she got to murder her father repeatedly and even Courtney. The girls exchange retorts and quips as they blame each other for the situation until Courtney, fed up with Cindy's attitude, fled the room once again.
Courtney ends up in a memory-torture with her mother and is emotional over the moment. Cindy abruptly pulls Courtney out of the illusion and back into the room of a little girl. Cindy remarks that it sounds as though Barbara was going to wish Courtney wasn't born. The girls eventually argue back and forth again. Cindy embraces her darkness because she's a survivor. Courtney doesn't think that excuses the horrible things Cindy has done. Cindy unloads the torture she endured at the hands of her father in an attempt to get Courtney to embrace her darkness. As they argue, an illusion of Cindy's mother, Suzanne, appears. She is moved by the sight of Suzanne and becomes emotional as she witnesses her younger self speak to Suzanne. Cindy advances toward her younger self who is about to hurt Suzanne, but Dragon King's henchmen intervene and kidnaps Cindy. Courtney runs after her but when she pushes through a door she arrives in an abyss of darkness.
Eventually, Courtney goes to Dragon King's lair in the Blue Valley Tunnels to save Cindy. She witnesses Cindy being injected with a syringe. Cindy is horrified as she doesn't want to become her father, who gloats that he's about to finish her last experiment to make her the Dragon Queen. He then notices that Courtney has arrived. Dragon King knows Courtney doesn't have her staff and prepares to attack her with a sword. Dr. McNider appears and tells Courtney to ignore him as he isn't real - he doesn't have any power if she ignores him. She does just that and Dragon King vanishes into smoke as she walks by. She quickly frees Cindy, who is then consumed by an illusion of her dead mother. Courtney tells her it isn't real as Cindy cries for the loss and apologizes for having murdered Suzanne. When Cindy accepts that it wasn't real, her mother's body and the body of a watching young Cindy fades away. The trio hurries to the JSA headquarters where they push through the barrier The Shade creates for them to escape. Courtney presses through the film first and transitions from black and white to back into color. Dr. McNider follows soon after, with Cindy crossing through last. When all three are safely returned, The Shade closes the portal. While everyone else surrounds Richard Swift as he dies, Cindy waits on the stage until he dies. She then asks who is ready to kill Eclipso.[17]
Cindy returns to the Whitmore-Dugan House alongside Courtney, Pat, and Dr. McNider. She watches Courtney's tearful reunion with her mom. When they see Cindy watching, Courtney pulls away and tells Cindy that she better not try anything. Cindy will be glad to leave Blue Valley once Eclipso is defeated, and admits that taking the diamond was a mistake. Barbara agrees and tells Cindy not to try any trouble, either. Beth and Jennie arrive and the house, and Beth hugs Courtney, then sees Cindy with her. Courtney explains that Cindy is helping them, but Beth still thinks Cindy is evil. Cindy is offering a truce until Eclipso is defeated. She gets some food and compliments Barbara's cooking as Pat and Courtney plot to break Rick out of jail. In the morning, she watches from a distance as Courtney tries to recruit Yolanda back into the JSA, but the latter refuses.
Cindy breaks into to Yolanda's room and begins to instigate a fight. She wants to make sure she doesn't come back to the JSA, as they don't need weak links. She's willing to work with Courtney to get to Eclipso, so they're allies now. She's always admired Yolanda, envied her, really, but she never dreamed the straight-A poster girl for progress would fall this hard. If Cindy and Courtney are working together, Yolanda can't believe how far she's fallen. Cindy smirks as she glances around the room. She finds a photo of Henry. She finds it odd that she kept his photo even after he sent hers to everyone. She recalls that day when her photos got texted to everyone's photos. Yolanda tells her to shut up, standing merely inches from her face. Cindy smirks that it wasn't Henry - it was her. Yolanda snarls and pushes Cindy against the wall, pressing her forearm to Cindy's throat. That's the fight she used to see. Yolanda shouts for her to get out, but Cindy is already finished. She leaves while Yolanda tells her mom that everything is fine.
That night, Cindy stands on the Whitmore-Dugan's porch. Courtney comes out and figures that Cindy played Yolanda to get her back onto the team, referencing that Yolanda has decided to return for the fight against Eclipso. Cindy readily agrees, advising that Courtney has to better embrace her dark side just like Yolanda and the old JSA did. She has to be bad to defeat evil, though Courtney doesn't agree. When Courtney goes back inside, Cindy makes a phone call telling someone they all need to come back to Blue Valley.[18]
In the peak of night, Stargirl, Wildcat, Shiv, and Pat walk down Main Street. They watch a rift to The Shadowlands appear above The American Dream. The trio rushes in to face-off against Eclipso, with Stargirl sending Pat to find Beth, while the women square off against Eclipso. He vanishes only to reappear across the room. He infects Wildcat and Shiv with illusions of Ted Grant and a younger self respectively. Cindy has to fight the version of herself that killed her mother, but has difficulty doing so. Young Cindy begs Shiv not to hurt her like she hurt their mother. Shiv isn't afraid, and Cindy tells her that she should be. Shiv kicks Cindy down, but Cindy just giggles, leaps to her feat, and stabs Shiv in the stomach with knives of her own.
While they are distracted by the realism of the illusions, Stargirl attempts to blast Eclipso with the staff multiple times but he avoids her attacks. She eventually lands a blast that wounds him enough to end his illusions. The team rallies around Stargirl, but Eclipso quickly overpowers them with a blast of darkness that sends them flying. Stargirl, Shiv, and Wildcat quickly recover. They work together to attack the monster. He bats away Wildcat, though the remaining duo prove a challenge to him. He ultimately overpowers them despite their expert maneuvers. He throws them out of the building and scales the rooftop. Shiv lands in a crumpled, broken heap on the concrete below.
It takes a moment for Shiv to heal from her injuries. She pops her bones back into place as Wildcat finds her. Eclipso is possessing Courtney. Shiv thinks the only way to stop him is to kill the host, but Yolanda refuses to let that happen. They just have to get the staff away from him. They descend on Stargirl as Wildcat tries to pull the staff from her hands, as Shiv wrapped her arm around Stargirl's neck. Eclipso cackles that they can't beat him and easily flings Shiv backward. Wildcat tries to reach Courtney but Eclipso has taken hold. He shouts that the staff is a conduit for spiritual enlightenment and is creation itself. Only one person can wield the staff. He throws Wildcat aside as he repeats that only one could wield the staff.
Suddenly, Sylvester Pemberton grabs the staff and smirks that maybe two can wield it. He grips the staff as Eclipso struggles against his pull. They lock into a battle of will as the staff rises them several feet above the ground. The JSA and their allies watch in awe as the scene unfolds. Sylvester breaks through to Courtney, expelling Eclipso from her body. They land on the ground and face an injured Eclipso on the steps of The American Dream. Sportsmaster, Tigress, and Artemis join the group. Artemis nods to Cindy who called them asking for their help. Everyone advances to Eclipso, as Courtney, Sylvester, Jennie, and Jakeem use their combined powers of light to defeat Eclipso. The monster turns into a half-burnt piece of toast. Jakeem wondered what they should do with the piece of toast. Hourman thinks they should put it somewhere safe. Thunderbolt peers over and cringes as the toast is a little burnt, which is his bad.
In the aftermath of the battle, the town of Blue Valley returns to sunny skies just in time for the end of summer. Things start to return to normalcy, as Yolanda attends church once again. She leaves one day to find Cindy waiting for her outside. Yolanda questions what she's still doing in Blue Valley, as she thought Cindy was leaving. Cindy nervously admits that she kind of likes it here. Eclipso got Cindy thinking about her future, and she wants a second chance at redemption by joining the JSA.[19]
For clarity purposes, the Ultra-Humanite will be referenced as Sylvester Pemberton.
Now looking to prove herself to the Justice Society of America, Cindy goes out of her way to help an old woman with her groceries, albeit after an annoyed look of contemplation. She sits with the JSA at school, proclaiming they can't call it the "losers table" anymore if she's there. Rick quips back that it never was the losers table. Courtney tries to start their meeting by discussing teamwork, wanting to wipe the slate clean. If she can look beyond her past with Cindy, the rest of the JSA can, too. Yolanda isn't so eager to forgive and forget, with Cindy snapping that she should get over her trauma already. Yolanda makes it clear they don't want her here.
Courtney argues that they agreed on this, but Rick corrects since she and Beth agreed, while he and Yolanda didn't. They skip ahead to Starman being back, with the JSA anxiously wondering what's happening to the staff. ""Sylvester"" plans to teach Courtney how to use it since it has a few more tricks up its proverbial sleeve. An eager Artemis slams her fists on the table as she proclaims a "go, team!" on her way past them. This action confuses the JSA. Yolanda snaps at Courtney that it seems anyone can join the JSA now, storming off as Cindy promises to see her later, calling her a teammate.
An SOS from Beth brings the JSA together that night for a robbery at a warehouse. Shiv's presence annoys Wildcat and they begin to bicker. Stargirl cuts it off as they don't have time for squabble. She runs towards the gang until Artemis leaps over a wall, donning a super suit. She takes out the gang alone as Shiv smiles proudly from the sidelines. An astonished Stargirl looks at her team.
They head to The Pit Stop to debrief. Cindy is incredulous over them hanging out at a greasy garage, even if it's the only place big enough to keep S.T.R.I.P.E.. She remarks that it smells like a gas station bathroom. Rick asks if she's going to complain about everything. She offers her house as an alternate meeting place, as she has comfortable chairs and wine. Rick presses that they don't drink on the job, with Beth adding they aren't 21 and don't drink at all. Cindy calls the situation lame. Beth gets a hit on the gang, who are the No Limit Gang that used to work for The Gambler. Yolanda and Rick don't think that's a coincidence, as Gambler is back in town. Bad guys like him don't change. Cindy proclaims that it's boring and to call her when something exciting happens. Courtney's attempts to stop her are useless.
The JSA plan to confront The Gambler and head to his trailer. They hear a large explosion and a gunshot. They rush to the trailer where they find Gambler on the ground, dead. His trailer is destroyed and Shiv crouches next to the body. She rises to her feet with The Gambler's smoking pistol in her hand. She looks to Stargirl, insisting that she didn't do it.[20] Shiv professes her innocence. She came there to see if The Gambler had any connection to the lame robbery earlier. She found the trailer destroyed and The Gambler dead. When she saw the gun she picked it up, and it accidentally went off. She drops the gun, so the JSA slowly walks closer to the body. Stargirl kneels beside him and finds the letter addressed to Becky. She holds it close to herself.
The team disbands for the night. In the tunnels, Cindy works in the old ISA headquarters. She lays out medical equipment, a sketch of a human leg, and a syringe full of liquid. She winces at the pain in her shoulder, popping it back into place. She picks up a vial of purple liquid, looks at the ISA portrait on the wall, then drinks the vial.
She heads to school to find the team talking at their usual table. She slams her bag on the table. She's upset they held a meeting last night without her, realizing they're having another one now. Yolanda sneers that The Gambler died from a stab wound, like a shiv. Courtney adds it could have been a knife or an arrow. She apologizes to Cindy about the meeting, with Yolanda cutting her off as the circumstances were she was standing over a dead body. Those circumstances were completely circumstantial, according to Cindy. Courtney reminds everyone that The Gambler's laptop is missing, and whoever has it, is who killed him. The sooner they find the laptop and catch the killer together, the sooner they can all move on. She eyes Cindy, telling her non-verbally to sit, and the girl does.
After school, Cindy sits in the ISA headquarters, facing the mural of now-fallen members. She opens a purple laptop and turns it on. The computer screen asks for a password, with a picture of Steven Sharpe next to the password prompt.[21] She continues prodding through the laptop and sends Beth proof that The Gambler was blackmailing someone before he died. She sends it anonymously as to protect herself. A pop-up tells her she successfully sent the files to Beth. Cindy types into the computer and finds an archive of the Dragon King files, though it's locked behind a password. She enters her first guess and a cartoon figure of The Gambler pops up - he's sorry to say that's the wrong password. This process repeats itself over and over again, as The Gambler keeps mocking her to try again.
Cindy waits for Courtney by her locker, greeting her as new girl. She asks if there's any updates on the JSA front. Courtney admits there is - apparently, The Gambler's been blackmailing someone, they just don't know who yet. Cindy crosses her arms, remarking "huh". Courtney points out that she doesn't seem surprised. Cindy brushes it off - birds fly, fish swim, and blackmailers blackmail. Courtney looks away and agrees in morose, forcing Cindy to ask what's going on. Courtney just thought The Gambler was trying to be a better person for his daughter. Cindy understands, but lots of bad fathers talk the talk. It doesn't mean anything unless they actually follow through. She asks what Starman thinks, but he's taking the day off to find balance. Courtney eyes Cameron Mahkent who walks past the girls to find his locker. Cindy notices the fleeting stares and smirks, asking if Courtney has balance. The girl scoffs that she's balance. She made breakfast this morning - waffles. Cindy mocks surprise over how far she's come finding a life outside of Stargirl. Courtney sighs and brushes off the remark. Beth is tracking the accounts, so they'll hopefully have an update soon. She'll see her a lunch.
Courtney, Yolanda, Beth, Rick, and Cindy sit at the JSA table to discuss what Beth found out about the documents. The deposits made to The Gambler came via wire transfer from an Irwin Hasen, which is an alias for Lawrence Crock. She concludes The Gambler had been blackmailing the Crocks before his death. Courtney instructs them not to tell "Sylvester", as he'll want to rush right in. Beth cheerfully points out he's like Courtney, who darts her eyes at her friend. She meant that he'll rush in like he did with The Shade. Rick thinks they should all rush in if they're guilty. Courtney laments they have to wait. Cindy asks what they're waiting for - Beth has solid evidence for murder. Courtney tells the team that just because The Gambler was blackmailing the Crocks doesn't mean they killed him. She looks over to Artemis who is sitting on a cafeteria table laughing with her friends. If they're going to take Artemis' parents away from her again, they have to be sure. The team is quiet as they agree to regroup with Pat and come up with a plan. Until then, they don't say a word to "Sylvester".
When school is over, Cindy disobeys Courtney's direct order by heading to the Whitmore-Dugan House to talk with "Sylvester". He answers the door and she greets him as Mr. Pemberton, asking for Courtney, who isn't back from school yet. She thought they were supposed to meet for a JSA meeting. He questions what it's about - how The Gambler's blackmailing the Crocks. She fakes surprise that they didn't tell him. She tells him not to take it personally as they leave her out of stuff too. She has a good idea - the two of them should go get the Crocks right now. He perks up as that sounds, terrible. He wouldn't work with Dragon King's demon spawn, which makes her deflate. He doesn't trust her anymore than he trusts the Crocks, The Shade, or did The Gambler. In fact, he trusts her less. She chuckles as she's a member of the Justice Society of America now. He eerily tells her to go find someone who's impressed by a dime-a-dozen cheerleader in green spandex with daddy issues. He's not her run-of-the-mill Blue Valley idiot - he's Starman. He warns her to be careful on the stairs with her shoes. If she falls, it'll be like falling off an overpass. He slams the door on her as she turns around slowly.
Her actions cause "Sylvester" to attack the Crocks in public at a supermarket, subsequently destroying it. The next day at BVHS, Courtney tells her team the Crocks didn't kill The Gambler. They seemed pretty sincere at her house, and the way the trailer was ripped apart isn't really their style. The can now rule out the Crocks, Grundy, and Shade. Yolanda asks about Cindy, since she did exactly what Courtney told her not to do by going straight to "Sylvester". Cindy arrives just in time to hear Yolanda's remark. She didn't want to just sit around and do nothing. The Crocks looked guilty, so she wanted to take them down, and prove herself. She thought if the great "Sylvester" Pemberton gave her the seal of approval, they would too. Turns out, he's kind of an ass. Courtney stands up so she's at level with Cindy. If she does anything like that again, she's off the team. Cindy nods as she's got it. They all sit down together.
After school, Cindy works in her lab to crack Gambler's passwords, but still has no luck. The alarm blares as he laughs at her attempts. She shakes the laptop in frustration.[22]
The JSA heads back to Cornhusker Estate Trailer Park to look for clues about who attacked "Sylvester" earlier in the evening. Dr. Mid-Nite uses her goggles to look for clues around the destroyed trailer. Stargirl asks her if she's found anything, but there was no evidence - no strands, no drop of blood, as if someone wiped it clean since "Sylvester" was here. Shiv thinks someone probably did, as whoever attacked "Sylvester" wasn't stupid. Wildcat accuses her of doing it. Shiv assures her that she would've made sure "Sylvester" was dead, much to the discomfort of the whole group. She shifts as she's just being honest. Dr. Mid-Nite thinks they've hit a dead-end, so the team prepares to leave. Suddenly, Dr. Mid-Nite's goggles find a single skin cell, though it's unidentifiable. Since it doesn't belong to Starman, the team determines it belongs to the person who attacked him.
Cindy skips school the next day to hide out in the underground tunnels. She stands from her chair in growing discomfort. She rubs her arm as it twists, rolling with discomfort. She shakes it a few times when the worst of it subsides. When she blinks, her eyes are reptilian. She groans uncomfortably as she shakes her arm and body. She feels agonizing pain and opens her torn sleeve. She peels down the gauze wrapping her shoulder to reveal green scales covering her skin. Beth's words echo that a single skin cell had the goggles all worked up. Cindy breathes painfully before swiping the contents of the table off, smashing everything onto the ground.[23]
Five days ago, Shiv stands in Cornhusker Estate Trailer Park in front of The Gambler's destroyed trailer. Her wrist blade is out as she looks down at Gambler's body. She sheaths her blade and heads into the trailer, searching for something that has to be there. She finds his laptop in perfect condition, smiling happily. She picks it up and dusts it off. She hears people coming and tucks the laptop under the trailer, hiding it behind some debris. She sees Gambler's gun only a few inches from his hand. She picks it up and her arm twinges, pain shooting through her arm, causing her hand to spasm and pull the trigger. The JSA hears the gunshot and runs over to see her standing over the body. Cindy looks over at them, professing that she didn't do it.
In the present day, Cindy works in the ISA headquarters to unlock Gambler's laptop. The alarm blares over and over again as it's the wrong password and to try again. She decides to let him hack himself with his own gadgets, by plugging in a device. It runs through a litany of passwords, the animated Gambler repeats "Try again" numerous times. Finally, the screen lights up green as bells ding, as she's succeeded in unlocking it. She hears a crash and the motion sensors on the laptop pick up movement by one of the entrances. She sees Starman, Wildcat, and Hourman approaching. She quickly grabs the laptop, her belongings, and rushes out through a back door.
Blue Valley High School is abuzz with morning news. Mike and Jakeem talk by the lockers until Brian Tanner Balloid and Travis walk up. They're collecting money for the hungry - the hungry being them. It's a tax for being losers. The bullies ask for their money or else they'll hit the boys really, really hard in their quite handsome faces. Cindy intervenes and takes down both boys, putting Brian in an arm lock. If she catches him messing with the freshman again, she'll break way more than his arm. He groans why she cares, but she doesn't, sauntering off. The boys watch her go, a pink glow surrounding her as they admire her.
The lab teacher calls for everyone to grab their notes and a lab partner. Courtney sees Cindy alone and walks over, tapping her on the arm to ask if she wants to be a team. She smirks at the double-meaning. Cindy wonders if she's going to apologize for leaving her out of the JSA meetings again, but Courtney's not going to. That's too bad, because groveling looks really good on Courtney. However, Cindy's been the one itching thr group at lunch. Cindy sighs that they can be partners. As they work, Courtney asks if Cindy grew up in Blue Valley. Cindy sees through the introductory question and wants to know what she wants. Courtney admits she's been hanging out with Cameron more, though he's in a bad place right about his dad. She feels guilty about what happened. Cindy insists she can't tell him what happened. He'll be just fine as he's basically a nice guy, though he's not nice to her. No one is besides Courtney, really. Courtney knows Cindy's changed and that other people will see that eventually. Cindy asks why Courtney is talking to her about this and not Catgirl or someone else. After a moment of silence, Courtney admits it's because she knew Cindy wouldn't judge her and would give it to her straight. Cindy takes the compliment. She likes the idea of her and Cameron, which means a lot to Courtney. Cindy knows that no one wants to hear how awful their father is, or was. After all, she's sure Courtney would rather still think Starman is her father instead of some degenerate who didn't want her. She laments that Courtney doesn't want him to feel like they do.
Once class ends, Mike and Jakeem watch Cindy from around a corner of lockers. Thunderbolt sparks that Operation: Dragon Queen is a go. The boys argue over who will go to talk to her. By the time they both decide to go, Cindy is at the corner to get into her locker. They greet her and she coolly asks what they want. Mike has a preposition for her, which makes her smirk as that's not what he means, but tells him to go ahead. He tells her to face it - Courtney and the others are not her biggest fans, and a woman with her skills needs to be appreciated. Jakeem blurts out worship. Mike stammers that the appreciation is just not coming from the JSA. He asks her to ditch those ingrates and join them, the Young All-Stars. Cindy pauses then bursts out laughing, calling it adorable. They boys eagerly think that's a yes, but she chuckles that it's never going to happen, ever. She means that in the nicest way and walks off.
Cameron puts his books in his locker when Cindy approaches. She heard he's dating Courtney, which provokes him to ask why that matters to her. She and Courtney are friends now, real BFFs, so she's just looking out for her girl. He's doubtful, which she understands, but people do change. She asks if he's changed, a statement that confuses him. She asks if he's told Courtney about summer art camp, between second and third grade. She guesses it was less of a camp and more of an institution where little angry boys could learn to stop breaking things. He slowly asks why she's doing this. She presses on by asking if the walls were padded. If there were shrinks talking about his mommy. He looks at her and breathes heavily, clenching his jaw as his eyes begin to freeze over. Her face falls at the sight but he blinks the ice away. He doesn't know why she wants to hurt him, but everything she just said, proves that she hasn't changed. She smirks with maybe and saunters off. He slams his locker shut and glares after her.
Across town at Richie Rock's Diner, Courtney sits at the counter with a chocolate milkshake. Cindy enters and tells Courtney there's one big difference between them: Courtney sees the good in people while she sees the bad. She talked to Cameron about her as a favor. She knows his grandmother is a freak like Jordan. She saw her eyes get white with ice last summer because she made her mad. She wanted to push Cameron's buttons to try and trigger him and she did. He has his family's powers. The lack of surprise from Courtney makes Cindy realize she already knew. Courtney admits she's going to help him control them. Cindy scoffs, telling her to cut bait, new girl. She's read this story and it only ends one way. She also wouldn't finish the milkshake.
When night falls, Shiv enters Dragon King's underground lair. The answers she's looking for have to be here. She sees the lizard and remarks "ew" before rifling through the drawers. She hears squeaking but doesn't find anything.[24]
Cindy returns to Dragon King's Blue Valleylair, looking up at the ruined ISA portrait, shaking her head. She turns back to the table where she collects her books and scrolls. She looks up and her eyes blink in gold reptilian slits.
In the morning, Jakeem and Mike stand outside Cindy's house with chocolate and flowers. Mike rings the doorbell and Cindy answers. He greets her, grinning that the Young All-Stars bring her offerings. She smirks and gives a simple no, slamming the door shut on them.
Under the cover of nightfall, Wildcat sneaks into Cindy's room to return The Gambler's laptop she stole the evening prior. She is caught by Cindy, who greets her as Kitty Cat and walks over to her. She knew it was her as she scratched the window coming in the first time. Defiant, Wildcat then sneers that she'll do more than that right now and sank into a fighting stance with her gloved hands closed into fists. Cindy defensively tries to stop her to explain, as she did not kill The Gambler. Wildcat doesn't care, as she had The Gambler's laptop and didn't tell them. Cindy had her reasons and would have explained. She still can, but Wildcat unsheaths her claws - it's too late.
She swings at her, slashing the bedpost in half as Cindy dodges onslaughts of attacks. Wildcat kicks her backwards into the window. Cindy does a flip and kicks Wildcat into the wall, commencing a brutal fight. She dodges another attack and Wildcat pins herself on the wall as Cindy grabs the bedpost as a weapon. Wildcat throws herself off the wall and, using the force held in her suit to scale forward from the horizontal ceiling, land on the floor, and reprise her razor-clawed assault. She lands a scratch on Cindy, who holds her face until it heals shut. She drops a lock of white hair and Wildcat beams. Cindy shakes her head "no", for Wildcat just did a very foul move. They continue to fight until Wildcat throws her out of a window, jumping out behind her. Her suit absorbs the impact as Cindy struggles to get up.
Wildcat and Cindy continue their fight, with the heroine managing to grab and restrain the latter from behind, snarling that Cindy's always been a bitch. Cindy returns the sentiment and kicks her aside. A metallic creaking catches her attention, and she sees a car flying towards her. Cindy jumps out of the way just as Hourman leaps into the fight, surpassing the house in his grand leap. He lands on the bus as he knew she wasn't good. The trio begins to fight and Wildcat restrains her long enough for Hourman to kick her away. Cindy stands back up, preparing to fight more, though her sleeve rips to show the green scales emerging. Rick asks what the hell that is, so Cindy quickly covers it up. Wildcat snears that Cindy's just like her dad. Cindy unsheaths her shiv for the first time.
Wildcat and Hourman gang up on Cindy, slamming her into the ground. From above, a bright light emerges as Stargirl performs the shooting star into the center of the fight, blasting everyone away from each other. She looks up, her eyes glowing brightly from the power of the staff. Wildcat and Hourman run behind Stargirl, ready to continue the fight. She turns to Cindy, asking what she's doing, though Cindy points out Yolanda started this. Wildcat reveals Cindy stole The Gambler's laptop, but Cindy swears she didn't kill him. Wildcat thinks she's just like her father, telling Courtney to just look at her scales. Stargirl realizes the DNA at the crime scene wasn't Dragon King's DNA, but Cindy's. She asks what's happening to her.
Cindy wants her to stop acting like she cares. Stargirl does care, asking her to please talk to them. Fighting back emotions, Cindy explains she started changing when they got back from The Shadowlands. She doesn't know if it triggered this or if it was always going to happen. She doesn't know what her dad did to her. She was just trying to figure it out. She stole The Gambler's laptop so she could go through his files, locate labs, find a cure, but she didn't kill anyone. The JSA stares at her and Cindy emotionally exclaims for them to stop looking at her like she's a monster. Her eyes flash reptilian and she covers them up, squelching and groaning. Stargirl wants to help her, though Cindy only throws the offer back at her. She's so tired of all of this.
Stargirl defends that if she was just honest with them in the first place like they asked her to be, but Cindy cuts her off. She asks if she should be honest like her. She urges Stargirl to tell the JSA about her little secret she's been keeping about Cameron. Wildcat already knows she's dating Cameron. Cindy shakes her head at the definition, taunting a "like father, like son". Courtney's teaching that little psycho how to conjure up icicles, just like Daddy. This news shocks Hourman and Wildcat. Cindy presses that Cameron has powers like the rest of his family, turning to Courtney. When Cameron finds out what she did to his dad, which he will, he'll come for her. She hopes that he wins. Cindy storms off, leaving Hourman and Wildcat to glare at their leader with disdain.[25]
While taking down the cameras hidden around town, Dr. Mid-Nite tells Hourman that she thinks whoever killed The Gambler has been the one watching them and killed Gambler for finding the feeds. She doesn't think it's The Shade, the Crocks, Dragon King, or Cindy Burman. Meanwhile, Courtney tells Pat that Cindy is gone, along with any credibility she has as the leader of the JSA.[26]
Over at Richie Rock's Diner, Jakeem and Mike are having breakfast while talking. Jakeem's more worried about Cindy than finding Gambler's killer, which shocks Mike. Jakeem argues that Cindy stood up for them, but they didn't stand up for her. She's out there alone turning into a crocodile. Thunderbolt wonders if she'll grow a tail. Mike ignores the imp and questions Jakeem if he really wants to skip out on all the glory, deliver the dumb papers, and go help Cindy with her reptile acne. Jakeem wonders if Thunderbolt could cure her. Helping her is the right thing to do - after they deliver the newspapers.
They use a wish from Thunderbolt to open Cindy's locker, dumping the contents into a sink in Blue Valley High School. They search for clues as to where she could be. Thunderbolt has to tell Jakeem that, ethically, this puts them in a gray area. He knows they're technically investigating this girl under the promise that might be a bad guy, but also, it looks like breaking and entering of a girl that he has a crush on, so this could be considered stalking. Jakeem finds metal cleaner in the bag, though Thunderbolt points out that someone with a giant knife in her arm might need it. The boy drops it, grossed out, while Mike asks why he can't just wish to know where she is. Jakeem, as Thunderbolt once again points out, can't wish for the same thing twice. Jakeem finds a list of places that he assumes are Cindy's father's laboratories, similar to the ones "Sylvester" checked out. All of the places are crossed off except one, the Etter Produce Farm. It's circled for some reason that they're going to find out why.
They bike to the produce farm to find Cindy, but come up short of finding her. Instead, they find a giant albino gorilla that promises to kill them all.[27]
The boys take off into the woods to hide from the creature. As they flee, they step on a trap that scoops them into the air in a net. Mike asks what happened, with Jakeem wondering if they got eaten. Mike complains that Jakeem is on top of him, when Cindy Burman emerges from behind the tree. She asks what the two idiots are doing here. The boys poke their heads through the net. Mike exclaims they found her, with Jakeem questioning if it's Cindy, smiling when he sees her. He greets her with a hello, and Thunderbolt warns them not to tell her they have all of her stuff. Cindy cuts them down with her shiv, making the boys scream until they thump on the ground. She smirks and sheathes her shiv.
Jakeem exclaims that she's still alive. She asks again what they're doing there. Mike admits they're looking for her, which confuses her. They wanted to see if she was okay, now that she's turning into a lizard. Jakeem quickly adds that lizards are, by far, the most beautiful and intriguing members of the reptile family, if she were to ask him. Mike tells Cindy they found a giant, big, white gorilla while they were looking for her. Jakeem isn't good at estimates, but he'd say it was 30 feet tall. Cindy knows, as that's what the trap was for. Mike remarks she'll need a bigger trap. Cindy sighs then points over her shoulder. Down there, they'll find a road, Etter Lane, that leads right back to town. Mike tells her to come with them, but she can't. She thinks that thing is one of her dad's crazy science experiments. He suggests it has to be what killed The Gambler. She agrees it probably is, which is how she'll clear her name and shove it into the smug faces of his sister's dumbass friends faces. Thunderbolt snips that it's an admirable goal. She tell them to do themselves a favor - go play some video games and leave this to her. Jakeem starts to explain what Thunderbolt said, but a distant boom catches their attention. They look back and when they look to Cindy again, she's gone. Thunderbolt gasps that she's just like Batman. Mike plainly states she is out of her mind.[28]
Jakeem and Mike are in his the formers room, trying to word the perfect wish to depower Icicle. They found out that his powers are keeping him alive, so Thunderbolt can't remove his powers. Jakeem sighs as they need to keep thinking. From the doorway, Cindy remarks they're gonna need help with that. The boys are shocked to see Cindy, who informs them their doors were unlocked. She could have been Jordan Mahkent, and wonders where they would be then. Jakeem admits they'd probably be frozen. Mike asks what Burman is doing here. With everything going on, she decided it's a lot for anyone to do alone, especially the two of them. She sits on Jakeem's bed and forces a smile - she wants to team up. Thunderbolt gasps dramatically. Mike's unamused and points to her, asking if she's serious. She merely remarks sure, why not. Jakeem grins and excitedly steps forward, welcoming her to the Young All-Stars. She lets out a noise as they're gonna have to work on that name. He nods eagerly as that's fine. He looks down at her and, through his teeth, muses that she's sitting on his bed. Thunderbolt mockingly says, "smooth", while Cindy averts her eyes and grimaces.[29]
Underneath the Burman house, the Young All-Stars enter the ISA's former headquarters. Mike thinks it's awesome. He asks if the ISA just sat around looking at a paint of themselves. He's not sure if they want to use this for the Young All-Stars HQ, as it's pretty cold down there for a reptile. No offense to Shiv. Jakeem asks what's happening to her and she shakes her head. He only wants to help as they're a team now, and that's what teammates do. Her dad experimented on her for her entire life. He put metal shivs in her arms and pumped her so full of chemicals her hair turned white. She thinks her father did something else to her, something that lay dormant until she came back from The Shadowlands. Mike asks if it hurts, and it does, sometimes. Jakeem summarizes that she took The Gambler's laptop too look for her dads hidden labs. She did, but she searched through all the labs she could find, hoping one might have answers on how to reverse this. Jakeem has an idea, taking out Thunderbolt. He's going to wish for something. Mike grabs him and shakes him a little, telling the madman to wait. He should write it down first, think it through. Jakeem knows what he's doing and tells Mike not to embarrass him in front of her. He turns back to Cindy and wishes that Thunderbolt would take him, Mike, and Cindy to the labs that has what they're looking for. Thunderbolt sparks to life and zaps them away.
The Young All-Stars navigate the underground tunnels where they're headed to place to "find what they're looking for". Mike asks what they're looking for, which Jakeem answers is a cure. Thunderbolt explains that Cindy Burman was, but Jakeem made the wish and was looking to impress her. So ta-da, here's his chance. Mike asks what that means but Thunderbolt refuses to answer. Mike tells him to pull the guy out there and "so-kewl" his pink ass. Cindy tells them to wait, recognizing a dragon painting on the wall. They're by on of her dad's labs. She excitedly tells Jakeem that she thinks he did it, telling the idiots to follow her. Jakeem is happily to have done it, but Mike wonders what he did exactly.
Mike realizes they're in one of Cindy's dad's creepy labs. Jakeem echoes the very creepy statement. He asks what they're looking for, assuming it's a potion. Mike scoffs that Dragon King's not a wizard. Jakeem defends his belief as there was a wizard in the ISA, and Mike admits there was. Cindy nervously tells the boys that someone's been working in there. She nudges a half-open book as proof. Mike thought she said her dad was dead. She admits he's supposed to be.
Jakeem pokes at a jar with eyeballs in it. Mike swats his hand away as he might catch what Cindy has. She hears him and Jakeem scolds Mike, asking what's the matter with him. Mike tries to justify it but Jakeem doesn't let up. Cindy looks around the lab until she finds a body covered in a white sheet. Mike turns on the overhead light. Cindy carefully pulls back the sheet, revealing Dragon King's body. The smell gags the trio, but Cindy shakes it off. It's her dad's body. She pulls off his hood to reveal the top of his head is cut off and his brain is missing. Heavy footsteps shake the lair as a huge albino gorilla emerges from the hall. He greets Cindy as his daughter, revealing himself to be Shiro Ito/Dragon King. She's in shock as she looks at her dad. Mike questions his identity. Cindy realizes he put his brain in that thing. Mike puts the pieces together; if Dragon King put his lizard brain in the white ape, he wonders where the Ultra-Humanite's brain is.
Dragon King grumbles lowly that he's missed Cindy, his greatest experiment - well, until now. Cindy tells Mike and Jakeem to be ready to run, so they sneak aside. Cindy tells her father that the new look is not an improvement. He snarls angrily and approaches her, so she throws one of the jars at him. It explodes, stunning Dragon King, giving the trio time to run away.[30]
Shiv launches out of a manhole, pulling Jakeem out behind her. She urges them along as Mike struggles to climb out. She pulls open a gate and leads them into an empty lot. They see the Blue Valley Tires sign, with Mike suggesting a foolproof wish to get them out of this mess. A roar splits through the air, and Shiv yanks Jakeem along.
Jakeem and Mike try to figure out where to wish themselves. They decide on The Bahamas, somewhere towards the ocean. Dragon King roars then punches the crates the trio is hiding behind. Shiv goes flying through the air as the boys take cover. Dragon King calls out to Cynthia, telling his dear daughter to come now. The boys assemble behind Shiv as Dragon King taunts her that she doesn't belong with them. She belongs with him - she belongs to him. Cindy unsheathes her shiv and asks if he wants to see what his little pet project can really do. She runs towards him and leaps into the air with a shout, just as Dragon King swings at her.
Shiv continues to fight her father but is losing to the oversized mutated gorilla. Mike sits and tells Jakeem to look at him now. He pulls the boy to his level, telling him again to look at him. He puts a hand on Jakeem's shoulder, telling him to do everything they say. Stop overthinking, be direct, be honest, and be specific. Jakeem stands and looks at Shiv, who is about to be torn apart by Dragon King. Her bones crack under his weight. He grumbles that it'll be over soon. Jakeem points Thunderbolt at the duo, wishing the most beautiful woman in the world will never have to be bothered by her father again. Nothing happens and Mike complains that he just said to be specific. Who's to say she's the most beautiful woman in the world? Jakeem turns back to the duo, commanding with the gumption that he does. He said it, the kid with the pen. His eyes glow pink and streaks of pink lightning emerge from his eyes.
The energy ripples down his body and triggers the pen, releasing Thunderbolt. The imp cheers that his wish is granted. He launches at Dragon King and scoops him into the air. Shiv struggles to sit as silence falls over the factory. From above, a white stuffed animal gorilla falls with a whistling noise. The pink energy around it slowly fades as it lands promptly in Shiv's lap with a squeak. She picks up the toy with a mixture of surprise and disgust. Thunderbolt emerges from the side, musing that it's for her, his queen, from her not-so-secret admirer. It's Jakeem, it's from Jakeem. Meanwhile, the JSA defeats Jordan Mahkent and Ultra-Humanite, and the Battle of Blue Valley is over.
One night at the Whitmore-Dugan House, Mike and Jakeem chase after Buddy, who has hold of the Dragon King gorilla plushie. They shout for him to put it down as it's dangerous and very bad. Jakeem cries out that Buddy ripped his arm off, with Mike exclaiming that's not his arm. Cindy smirks from the smaller kitchen table, where she's setting the table for the dinner gathering, asking her daddy even if he's having fun, smirking.
Ten years later, Richard Swift leads a group of eager patrons on a tour of a museum. He guides the ladies and gentlemen, telling them not to be shy. They arrive at the centerpiece of the entire museum. The meeting table of the Justice Society of America. He identifies who sits around the table, pointing at where the chairs would be. Starwoman, Wildcat, Jade and her brother Obsidian, Dragon Queen, S.T.R.I.P.E. 2.0, Jakeem Thunder, Icicle, Artemis, Sand, Damage, as well as Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite. The latter of whose impending nuptials are just around the corner. He proudly says they are officiated by "yours truly", smirking. With those two, come their loyal if somewhat foul-smelling and simple-minded friend, Solomon Grundy.
Banners for each member hang around them, along with exhibits dedicated to their specialties, and wings in honor of Wildcat, Dr. Mid-Nite, Jakeem Thunder, and Dragon Queen. Artifacts surround the museum, including Excalibur, Sandman's mask, a pink pen, and Shiv's scepter. Shade stops at the front of the table. United, they stopped the Injustice Society from brainwashing America, then prevented the demonic brute Eclipso from merging his nightmarish world with theirs. They shut down the Ultra-Humanite before he could tarnish Starman's legacy. They brought the true Sylvester Pemberton back to life. Then, they rescued the Seven Soldiers of Victory from a cosmic deity called The Nebula Man. He turns to look at the table. They're the greatest heroes the world has ever seen. But they won't be the last. Because there are other legacies of heroism waiting for a new generation to find, to take on, to rise up. For as much as evil has tried to destroy the Justice Society of America, it cannot. Nothing can. He smiles proudly.[31]
Personality[]
Cindy is the embodiment of the high school Queen Bee and the mean girl - perky and snide as well as having an underrated disregard for others' well-being, with a motto of looking out for number one. She displays no subtlety in her cruelty, such as double-crossing a loyal friend by replacing her with the athletically-inclined new student or going to such lengths as to condescendingly tell her stepmother to stop talking. She can be the sweetest person in the school or the meanest, sometimes in the same moment. She shows an initial vulnerable side when it comes to her boyfriend, Henry King Jr., such as brashly insulting the said new student in front of a school official after an altercation with him and taunting former friend Yolanda Montez about her feelings for him. She has also shown to be flirtatious and sassy as seen various times when she was with Henry and when she twerked at the high school talent show. What was first misconstrued as being possessive and concerned about her boyfriend turned out to be a façade to hide her overall indifference towards his suffering due to her father's influence on their relationship.
Deep down, her actions stem from the spite and hatred of her father's long-term experimentation and neglect; therefore she uses these unhealthy outlets as her way to lash out at him. She is sick of playing a normal girl in her father's plans and demands for her place on the ISA's table much to his exasperation. Despite this, on the other hand, she subtly yearns for his approval and love, as revealed in a flashing thought by Henry's telepathy. She wants to accelerate her part in his plans much to his refusal. Due in part to her growing anger, she is shown to lash out violently and has no qualms with killing to get his attention. Dragon King himself recognizes Cindy's volatility and attempts to reign her in by imprisoning her or drugging her with gas.
Despite her upbringing, Cindy does have some ounce of humanity left as evident when she mourns the death of her stepmother, Bobbie after Eclipso kills her, saying she didn't want her to die. However, while many fall for Cindy's manipulations, there are those who do not, like Cameron Mahkent when he rejects her offer of sympathy regarding his father's death and puts her in her place, telling her to her face that she has never cared about anything since the fourth grade. Also, Cindy's arch rival, Courtney Whitmore is one of the few people who isn't afraid to stand up to her. Despite Cindy’s bad girl attitude and headstrong nature, she is not immune to fear, as she was intimidated by Eclipso when he killed her team or by Cameron and Lily Mahkent when they both revealed their white eyes to her as a sign of intimidation and she got nervous.
Upon her encounter with Courtney in the Shadowlands, Cindy attempts to kill her but is forced to rethink her plan when she sees that Courtney isn't an illusion conquered by the Shadowlands and provides her adversary with intel. Having spent a while in the Shadowlands, Cindy has given up hope of ever getting out but still pulls Courtney out of an illusion. This shows that she has allowed the shred of humanity she has left to resurface as she and Courtney now share a common goal; to kill Eclipso. When Courtney and Charles McNider find they have a way out, Cindy is quick to follow them and voices the question of who wants to kill Eclipso, indicating she is calling a truce for the time being.
After Eclipso is defeated Cindy looks back on her life in recent months and shows more humanity than was thought to be possessed by her; when she wants to turn over a new leaf and join the JSA. If anything, her approaching Yolanda and humbly telling the latter of her intent shows that Cindy is capable of swallowing her pride and admitting when she was wrong.
Physical Appearance[]
Cindy is a pretty young teenager with a tall stature. She has a slender yet athletic build and an olive complexion. Her long hair is jet black with silver streaks in the front parts of her hair. She has expressive doe brown eyes that are usually accentuated with fake eyelashes or silver tinted eye shadow. Her attire consists of expensive taste in both jewelry and clothes, dominated by small sweaters or cardigans paired with short skirts. She has a confident personality that is reflected in her stance. Over time, Cindy begins to experience severe physical pain as a symptom of her body slowly turning reptilian, growing green scales on her right arm and occasionally blinking with reptilian eyes.
While fighting as Shiv, Cindy can be seen wearing a green armored suit.
Powers[]
“
She is a walking science experiment. Who knows what else she's done to change herself, Court.
Enhanced Physiology: As a child, Cindy's father experimented on her which gave her an enhanced physiology. Because of the experiments, she gained incredible powers and abilities. Since both Cindy and her powers are still evolving, she is becoming even more dangerous.
Reptilian Physiology: As time passes, Cindy's physiology begins changing to that of a reptile. Her skin cells are notably distinct in their genome, changing from human to reptilian-hybrid like her father. She experiences pain in her arm, as the flesh turns from human to green reptilian scales. Her blinks are intermittently reptilian in both color and shape. Her reptilian eyes are bronze slits.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Cindy can regenerate from any injury. She was blasted in the face with the Cosmic Staff which severely disfigured her face and left her with severe burns. However, the skin regenerated and healed within seconds. During the final battle with Eclipso, Cindy got her arm broken and her face cut up with all of it healing instantly.
Enhanced Durability: Cindy’s accelerated healing factor also grants her enhanced resistance to pain and injury. She was thrown out of a window and landed on the pavement relatively unscathed, had her head smashed through glass and barely reacted, also didn’t flinch when Mike hit her in the head with a toaster oven, and barely moaned in pain after having her arm broken by Eclipso.
Enhanced Strength: Cindy is capable of single-handedly and repeatedly throwing or striking another teenager above the normal limitations of human strength. Since becoming a human-reptilian hybrid, her strength has increased even more to the point that she was able to fight on par with the new Wildcat and Hourman simultaneously despite their respective enhanced strengths.
Enhanced Agility: Cindy was capable of easily jumping into the air and landing with ease while fighting Stargirl.
Implanted Wrist Blades: Cindy also has two implanted retractable blades in her wrists. These daggers are longer than her hands and have shown to be as an extension of Cindy's body. They are extremely dangerous, capable of killing someone or severely injuring them, in a similar fashion to concealable daggers. She uses them primarily when engaging an enemy at close-quarters combat, which as when she disarmed the Cosmic Staff from Stargirl by running the blades over Stargirl's knuckles. Despite being implanted in her wrists, Cindy has no physical consequences of them constantly sliding in and out of her wrists, courtesy of her regeneration ability. However, in July of 2021, Eclipso brutally tore out her right wrist blade, leaving her with only one remaining blade. Her wrist blades are the inspiration for her alias, Shiv.
Abilities[]
Peak Human Condition: Cindy is highly athletic. She is extremely agile and flexible, able to perform flips, aerials, and numerous other acrobatic maneuvers with ease.
Cindy restraining Travis
Skilled Martial Artist: Cindy is shown to be skillful enough in combat to overpower Courtney even when armed with the Cosmic Staff and has likely received training from Dragon King.
Knife Proficiency: Cindy is skilled at using knives and her wrist implanted blades in combat.
Intelligence: In spite of her rather shallow inclinations, it was indicated time and again that Cindy is far more intelligent, perceptive and calculating than she lets on. An exchange of letter conversation between her father and Brainwave revealed that very few escapes Cindy's attention, prompting the two fathers to accede courtship between her and Brainwave's son in hopes that Cindy might notice any sign of psychic talent latent within Henry. She was later able to quickly discern Stargirl's civilian identity, Courtney Whitmore, after a brief scuffle and even explicitly telling Courtney herself that the mask she wore as Stargirl was ludicrous as identity-concealment due to Cindy being all-too familiar with her at school — despite of the two of them not spending that much time together there.
Chemistry:
Cindy in chemistry class
As the daughter of a scientist, she is shown to have knowledge of various chemicals. Such that she is able to expertly synthesize an artificial cloud reaction without having to follow the given instructions on how to cause it step-by-step, achieving the highest grade mark in her class for both herself and Courtney, who volunteered as her lab partner, in that session.
Equipment[]
Shiv Armor: A green and red armored costume containing a large arsenal of bladed weapons. The armor provides Cindy with enhanced strength, sufficient to throw an automobile.
Dragon Staff: A powerful black staff that is a few feet long with the head of a dragon. Cindy as Shiv uses this staff to shoot plumes of fire at her enemies, as the flames project from the dragon's mouth.
The Black Diamond: Cindy came into possession of the black diamond that contained Eclipso when she broke into a storage unit and stole it. The diamond holds the life essence of a powerful being named Eclipso who relishes in the impure and sinful actions of others. She used the diamond to punish people around her and accomplish her goals. However, Eclipso breaks free of the diamond and destroys the remaining shards, ending Cindy's possession of the item.
Beth: No, I remember in elementary school she was a lot nicer. Then her mom died and her dad got remarried – twice actually – and then overnight, she became the scariest kid in the fourth grade.
Cindy (to Courtney): Look, I don’t really do this like ever but I owe you an apology for what happened yesterday. It was just one of those days, you know -- you probably have them all the time -- when you just feel like the world’s against you. Henry was being super weird, and my dad just extra awful, and Jenny, just so ungrateful, and then Cameron asked you to the dance, and you were bailing on me too, and I was like, ‘How is this even possible?’ Anyway, I overreacted, and I’m sorry.
Cindy: You know what I realized from yesterday? We’re not that different you and me. in fact, we’re kind of similar.
Cindy: Sure maybe. The point is, I really need a friend right now.
Cindy: Oh, sorry, forget to mention, I really like your staff, Stargirl. You think after all this time we spent together I wouldn’t recognize you through that stupid mask? Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I don’t want to share it with my dad and get sidelined, so better rest up Stargirl. I’ll be back. After I kill your friends.
Cindy (to Dr. Ito): Dad! Look, she came after me and I would have killed her, too, if it wasn't for Henry. He's the problem, not me! Dad. (pause) I'm gonna kill you. Like I killed mom. If you don't let me out of here, right now.
Cindy (about Stargirl):Daddy. Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! The bitch is here! Let me out. C’mon. Let me out. I want to kill her. Please, please, let me kill her. Please.
Daddy. Daddy, daddy, daddy, wait-wait-wait, I-I wanna kill her. I-I wanna kill her. Please. Please. Let me. No, no, no, no, daddy don't!
She and Jenny Williams placed in first in the regional talent show by twerking.
Cindy used BlueLube knife cleanser for her implanted wrist blades.[7]
She started Injustice Unlimited is to have a 'family' unit of her ownand to have people around her who are like her in status; the child of a supervillain.
Cindy is the first teenager in the series to address her step-parent as a biological parent. She referred to Bobbie Burman as "mom", albeit mockingly at times, and never by name. She also carries her stepmother's surname, "Burman", rather than her father's, "Ito".
In "Chapter Four: The Evidence", Beth's goggles display Cindy's alias as being Shiv. This is the first time her code name is seen or mentioned on-screen.
In "Chapter Four: The Evidence", Cindy begins transforming into a reptilian physique due to the effect of her father's experiments on her throughout her childhood.
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