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cer-rata · 8 months ago

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Fic WIP: "“No One Majored In Chemistry (snip #2)"

Damian crossed his arms. “Hello, ‘Champion.’ Is this really necessary?”

Billy shook him by his cape. “I swear I will drop you.”

“You think a fall from this height would kill me?”

“Ten stories? Yes?”

“Ha.” Damian pulled his legs up and crossed them in mid-air to make it look like he was casually sitting, and not being dangled over Gotham. “Anyway, you’re doing this wrong, you’re supposed to pose a question before threatening to drop me. You’d have to threaten to drop me anyway of course, but the order of operations is important if you don’t want to look like a complete psycho.”

Billy hissed. “Damian--”

“Now, if you don’t have a question and just desire to jerk me around, well I must remind you that I am in a committed relationship, and just because he’s not around right now, doesn’t mean--”

“WHY DID YOU TELL MY ROOMMATE WHAT MY DEAL WAS!?��

Damian froze, and the smug smirk awkwardly fell from his face. “Oh. Uh. Listen--”

“MMMHMMM?!”

“It was an…accident?”

“An accident? An accident? How do you explain my entire shtick by accident?!”

Damian winced and looked away. “I was…under the influence…”

Billy stared at him. “...What…?”

“Not like, recreationally, I don’t--Blockbuster threw me into a brick wall hard enough to aggravate the spine thing.”

“What spine thing--”

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I was on a lot of morphine when he came to visit and started talking about his room assignment, and I…I must have just started rambling when he mentioned you by name. I…apologize.”

Billy sighed and picked him up properly (like an infant, because he knew Damian would hate that) and landed on a nearby roof. He set Damian down gently and crossed his arms. “Look…fine. You could have given me a heads up.”

“I could have.” Damian admitted. “I got a little distracted with the murder.”

Billy groaned. It was always some kind of messed up homicide in Gotham. “What murder?”

Damian pulled his mask off and rubbed his eyes. “Conrad’s deceased ex-boyfriend’s mother had her eyes stolen. I…think she was dead before they were removed, but I’m not…entirely sure.”

Billy’s eyes widened. That sounded like black magic.

“I agree.” Solomon said, “Likely for some kind of cruel augury, or perhaps, more simply due to something those eyes had witnessed.”

“...Oh. I see.”

“Yeah.”

“Um. You know you really can just call me up if you need--”

“No offense, Batson, but wisdom or not, you’re not exactly known for your detective skills.”

“Unless it’s a magic thing, I’m pretty good with those.”

“...A magic thing.”

“I mean, sure, it’s Gotham, maybe there is a weirdo out there stealing eyeballs, but you didn’t say it was a part of a series of murders right?”

“...I didn’t, no.”

“Right, so generally when someone steals an important body part from a seemingly random person, it’s probably for some messed up ritual. Eyes have a lot of significance.”

Damian cursed under his breath. “In retrospect it’s...obvious. I hate you.”

Billy smiled weakly. “Yeah. Um. Listen though I’m sorry, I’m sure this is rough for you personally--”

“I don’t know how I’m going to explain it when he gets back.” Damian muttered, with an uncharacteristic rawness. He blinked a couple of times and raised his mask towards his face like he was about to put it back on, before stopping and letting his hands fall back to his waist.

“...Anyway, um. You’re here about Garth. I suppose I could attempt to rectify my breach of confidence with…an exchange of information?”

Billy watched for a moment. He caught Damian subtly shifting his weight from one foot to the other like he did as a fidget that most people wouldn’t recognize. One of his three visible, rare anxiety responses. He’s really not okay.

“SHAZAM!” Suddenly Billy was at a height with Damian, but much less well built, he couldn’t help but notice that.

Damian frowned. “What--”

“I can see your eyes, it’s only fair that you can see mine.”

Damian glared and looked away. “Stop that--”

“Damian--”

“You’re not here about me, so let’s not--”

“Damian--”

“If you’d like to dangle me again over a freeway or something, I think I’d prefer that to--”

He flinched when Billy put his hands on his shoulders. “Yeah, I do want to know what Garth’s deal is, but that can wait a minute. You wanna talk about it?”

“There is no ‘it’ to talk about, and if there were you know I wouldn’t want to.” Damian tried to make it an irritated hiss, but really, he just sounded like he was deflating.

“Wisdom of Solomon says that if Conrad gets back and finds out that we’ve let you be isolated and sad the whole summer, he will likely start picking us off one-by-one.” Billy wiggled his eyebrows and Damian groaned.

“Well…well that seems like a you problem--”

“Bro.”

“What do you want me to say!?”

“Something!”

“There is no guarantee that I will say what you want me to say unless--”

Billy pushed him as hard as he could, and Damian did not move in the slightest. They stared at each other for a moment before Billy let out a loud sigh.

Damian giggled, though. “...Really?”

“You’re annoying!”

“Maybe so. Billy there’s nothing you can do, alright? I’m…figuring things out.”

“This is more than just being lonely?”

“Being lonely is easy, I could teach classes on it. You know, apparently Brazil--”

“Then what is it?”

Damian fidgeted. “I’m…poorly acquainted with regret. Usually it’s easy for me to accept reality and move on, often enough that’s all you can do, if suicide is off the table. But…I don’t know. It’s different this time, I suppose. It’s probably because I can’t listen to him babble on about something stupid to make it easier to pretend that he’s alright. It’s hard to sit in silence and try not to realize that in the math of it all, I’ve probably made his life a lot worse. And he loves me for it. Hell, he only keeps the ring because he’s worried that if he doesn’t, he won’t be able to help me if he needs to. Now he’s off in space in some bootcamp run by crazy alien amazons, agonizing because he wants to be better for me. It’s sick.”

“I don’t think that’s accurate, and I don’t think you actually believe he’d be happier without you in his life.”

Damian ran a hand through his hair, getting gel on his glove in the process. “The entire point of all of this is that we do this work so other people don’t have to. I could have been in his life without letting him throw himself into the crossfire! I didn’t…I couldn’t conceptualize a relationship with someone on the outside, I think. I was uncomfortable with having to be a regular person around him, so I took the first opportunity to pull him in.”

Billy slid his hands up Damian’s shoulders and cupped his cheeks, appreciating Damian not biting him for it.

“He’s allowed to make his own choices, even if those choices are hard for him, even if they make you happy.”

Damian’s lips twisted. “...He said he thought it was wrong for people to train me to live like I do, that I could be more, that I could make other choices, that I could move on. He believes it enough that he was willing to die to give me the chance to try. He doesn’t get the irony. Idiot.”

Billy looked up at the stars and took a deep breath. “It was kind of messed up to make me the Champion.” He said, looking back into Damian’s eyes, noting the surprise there. “I was a little kid, in a bad place without a lot of options. I didn’t understand what I was agreeing to, how could I? It made a lot of things…hard. Really hard. You shouldn’t…you shouldn’t make a choice like that on a whim, you know? But I still wouldn’t take it back, even thinking about how…how long I’m going to be doing this, or the terrible things I’ve seen, or the awful secrets I know. To me, it’s worth it, because I can say that I, William Batson--”

“Ew--”

“Shut up! I can say that I’ve made some stuff better for other people. People who needed me, people I care about. It’s a gift delivered badly. So he’s right: It IS messed up that we didn’t get to choose. But he did, and he did it out of love. You can’t take that away from him, you just have to accept it, and accept that it’s okay that he picked you to be his person. Because it is. He thinks I’m cute, so clearly his taste has to be fairly decent.”

Damian shut his eyes and shook his head, laughing. “You’re a damn fool.”

“And not a psychic, so you need to, you know, text a guy. Okay? No one wants you to turn into your dad.”

“Wooooow.”

“Sorry.”

Damian snorted. “Alright, you either get a hug or I give you some background on Garth, you do not get both.”

He clearly did not expect Billy to go for the hug.

Which was probably why Billy felt his chest heave a little, and his throat made a weird little noise that one could perhaps describe as a sob.

#fic wip #billy batson #damian wayne #shazam #captain marvel #shut up cerata #robin #dc comics #tkaa au #this will all make sense one day

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stealingyourbones · 2 years ago

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DP/DC WEEK DAY TWO

prompts for November 15th. @avaritia-apotheosis

My Masterlist of DP/DC Prompts

Mistaken Identity:

Dick can’t believe his eyes. Babs was in Blüdhaven. Or else… It really looked like it was Babs. This girl's body language was far different. A thick psychology textbook was held firmly in one hand and another grasping her purse that no doubt had a brick in it. The biggest sign that it wasn’t Barbara was that she was walking. This wasn’t Babs but he might as well say hi.

Duke couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Right in front of him was a lady who was the spitting image of his mother. After cautiously asking if she had any relation to Elaine Thomas and getting told that she didn’t, he awkwardly apologized for asking and was about to leave before a hand on his shoulder stopped him. The lady told him that she heard that name before in the victims of the Joker Gas attack a few months back. She was sorry for his loss and she gave him her phone number to talk about it if he ever needed a friendly face to spill his worries. Duke looked at the contact name this lady gave him: Valerie Gray. Little did he know that this was the start of a very strange mentorship

It's tough gaining respect from new League members when they find out one of their superiors is a 14-year-old:

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and Booster are kind of miffed that one of the founding members keeps bossing them around and chastising them for mistakes in the field. Who is he to talk shit? He’s like 12 for gods sake. Oh boy do their complaints end quickly when Danny shows the full extent of his powers during a battle

Roy Harper does NOT fuck with having a child as his supervisor for a JL mission. He feels as if this was a rude jab and an insult to his being. Turns out, the kid is in a reverse Shazam situation and he’s actually Roy’s age when he de-ghosts himself. What Roy thought was Phantom faking trying to relate to him was actually genuine conversation. Sucks that he had to find out Danny was actually his age from falling unconscious mid-battle though. That sucked.

Mistaken Identity & It's tough gaining respect from new League members when they find out one of their superiors is a 14-year-old:

Shazam was very nervous about this Phantom guy. The dude was immensely powerful but when he transformed into his human side he looked exactly like Billy Batson. Through a series of events, Billy goes into the watchtower without transforming into Captain Marvel and someone mistakes him for Danny. He hopes to god he can keep up the guise for just today or else his secret is out.

#DP/DC WEEK 2022 #dp/dc week #dpxdc #dp x dc #danny phantom #writing prompts

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cloudycera · 4 years ago

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The Street Rat Empire

( I like this name better)

Beta Chapter 1.

Billy hated summer, Most kids loved it and it was easier not to freeze to death during this time but for billy it was one of the more dangerous times of the year. With kids no longer in school more of them would be taking up summer jobs which it harder for him to get one and it always seemed like CPS worked harder now.

The raven was zoning out in The Tower, contemplating his life outside of The Captain and what he was going to do for dinner or if he was going to eat tonight to help out the younger kids in his apartment, he could swipe something from the Cafeteria when no ones looking but to be honest someone was always looking.

"Cap.....Cap?!"

Captain Marvel almost jumped out of this chair as he turned to The Flash who was looking him with a questioning smile.

"Yeah? Sorry I was....thinking" he said awkwardly chuckling.

"Obviously you've been staring out the window for the past 30 minutes, Hal was ready to bet you were a decoy or something" Barry said leaning against railings next to him.

"So what's eating you?"

Captain wasn't exactly sure how he was going to tell his teammates he was going hungry to feed other people so he shrugged and placed his forehead on the glass.

"Nothing much just....worried about some kids in Fawcett" He chose the half truth, it helped to only tell half the truth most times, this way they could understand his worry.

"Kids?" Barry asked.

"Yeah as Shiny as Fawcett is it's homeless population still makes up thirty percent a lot of them are just kids, it sucks that even with all the strength In the world I can't help every last one them but still gotta do something" Billy's sad smile shook Flash a bit, he was used to the happy go lucky optimism Captain marvel carried around with him but even as he knew how creepily happy Fawcett city seemed to be he just accepted that it would have a hero like The Captain who always brightened up the mood.

"Is that why you always sneak out like 20 boxes of pizza on fridays?" He asked.

The raven blushed but didn't look at Barry out of fear that he would look like an idiot,

"You noticed that....great" he whispered but Flash still heard it.

"Everyone did Capn, everyone" Barry pat Billy on the back and smiled. "You're a good man Marvel, I'd say it would easier to just call Child protective services but if you could you already would"

"Those kids trust me Barry, I'd never do that to them I know how sucky that life can be Foster isn't exactly kind to most....ah" It was too late once he realized he'd actually given out personal information about himself, Billy turned away from The Flash and was so close to just flying out the window.

"You were a Foster child, Captain?" A new voice to the conversation, Dinah The Black Canary walked up to them with a blank face but slightly sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Can we forget I just said that?, oops look at the time gotta go see you guys later!!" In seconds the raven was gone, guess the speed of Hermes came in handy sometimes.

"What was that?" Dinah asked Barry looking at the door he ran out of.

"I don't know, he was zoning out so I asked what's wrong and he talked about the homeless kids in Fawcett, I think he's just a little conflicted.... you should talk to him tomorrow"

"I don't want to make him uncomfortable but I'll try" Canary said.

*********

In a rundown apartment in the forgotten neighbourhood, Billy laid on his makeshift excuse of a bed. It was an old mattress that he sometimes let the other kids stay on if they wanted to hideout somewhere, he had a sleeping bag as the bed cover to make it less gross to sleep on.

He knew he could always just live in the tower and no one would ask questions but he couldn't bring himself to do it, not when the League didn't know his identity and he felt responsible for the homeless kids here too.

Billy had long since given up on trusting adults, yeah he absolutely trusted the League with Captain Marvel's back but nat with Billy Batson. Billy batson was a scrawny 12 year old with nothing to his name, living in a dangerous neighbourhood and eating out of a trash can on most days and the League was full of kind good people but that kindness proved to be pain in the raven's ass the older he got.

There was a knock on his door and upon opening it was a little girl named Alli who lived with her mom the floor below him, Alli's mom was an addict who refused to hand her daughter over to social services and was on the run but Billy felt sorry for them so he let them stay in the building.

"Their back again, the Lions are making trouble outside again." The girl said, Billy looked annoyed but smiled either way and patted Alli's head thanking her for the information and sending her off to her mom.

"One day...just one day...can't I just relax and over think"

He said before getting to the roof and saying his words of power to ultimately talk the Gang into leaving and maybe throwing some of them into each other.

(I HAVEN'T WRITTEN IN A LONG TIME SO PLEASE TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS)

#shazam #billy batson #dc dcomics #dc heroes #fanfic #fanfiction #my wrtiting #The Street Rat Empire

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avis-writeshq · 6 years ago

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Billy Batson x Mute! Reader

Requested: Nope

Pairing: Billy Batson x Fem!Mute!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, angst, fluff, and trash writing… OH AND SPOILERS!!!!!

Other: I’m not sure how old Billy was in the movie, so Imma make it 15.

Word count: 7,228

Things you probably wanna know, for all you ‘x reader’ illiterates:

(Y/N): Your Name

(H/C): Hair Colour / Color

(E/C): Eye Colour / Color

(N/N): Nickname

***

The opening and closing of the front door brought you out of your books and you heard Rosa’s voice echo through the building. Snapping your book closed and tucking it under your arm, you made your way down the stairs, hearing Eugene’s voice soon after. He must be playing another one of those video games. Rolling your eyes, you took a few more steps into the kitchen, Darla running right past you.

“Is that him? Oh, my gosh, Billy!” Darla exclaimed, running forward and wrapping her arms around the boy’s waist, ignoring Victor’s warning of slowing down.

“And that’s Darla,” Rosa chuckled.

“I’m Darla,” the girl grinned up at him, her thick glasses sliding down her nose.

A small smile wandered onto your face as you looked upon the scene, only to have your name called moments later. “(Y/N), come say hi to Billy!”

You waved at the boy who looked to be about the same age as you, if not a little older. You plucked your notebook out of your pocket and wrote a small note to him. ‘Hello.’

“She’s mute,” Victor explained, casting you a sideways glance, “childhood trauma.”

“Oh, I didn’t…” Billy began, pity filling his eyes.

You waved off the apology before turning to Rosa. ‘Do you need help to set the table?’ You signed, a bright smile on your face.

“I’m doing it!” Darla exclaimed, pouting her lips at you before her eyes lit up, “oh yeah, the poster! I made you one! Come, look!” Tugging Billy along, Darla rushed into the dining room, you following loosely behind. “Oh, no…”

There on top of the pink paper were two extremely heavy looking weights. Underneath the weights, however, were the words ‘WELCOME HOME NEW BROTHER’ in pink glitter glue, silver rhinestones decorating the edge. “Sorry, Pedro must have been working out…” In a poor attempt to save the poster, the young girl tugged at a corner, only for it to rip. You and Rosa cringed as Darla passed the corner to Billy.

You smiled thoughtfully, signing to Darla, ‘I can fix it with tape.’

Before she could respond, Mary came walking into the room, a phone against her ear. You rubbed your arm awkwardly as Victor and Mary exchanged a few words before pulling out your notebook once more. ‘I hope you like it here.’ You wrote quickly, watching in anticipation as Billy read the note. He offered a hesitant smile before Darla asked him a question.

“Do you like vegan food? See, I love animals.” A high pitched beeping sounded from the kitchen and the young girl pushed her way past her family. “Oh, no…”

“Oh no, we might have to eat a real turkey!” Victor exclaimed before running off to help Darla.

Billy looked from you to Rosa, “is that…”

“It’s okay, come, I’ll show you to your room. (Y/N), do you wanna come?”

You nodded eagerly before following the two up the stairs, running into Pedro who said nothing. “Is he also… you know…?”

“Oh, he’s just quiet. He can talk a lot when he wants to.”

You shrugged, signing, ‘Pedro can be nice, though.’

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” Billy frowned, looking sympathetically at you.

Nodding in understanding, you waved the apology off once more as Rosa continued her tour, “Freddy, this is Billy Batson. Please make him feel at home, okay? Maybe don’t say anything too weird.”

“Oh, one weird thing,” Freddy began, but you were already out the door.

***

After the Victor said his prayer at the dining table, Billy asked his dying question. “Can all of you understand sign language?”

You coughed, choking on your water. Mary looked at him, eyebrow raised. Eugene huffed at him, holding onto your arm (out of the other kids, he was most attached to you). Pedro was indifferent while Freddy looked insulted, and Darla… well, Darla slapped his arm. “That’s rude, Billy!”

‘It’s ok,’ you wrote, ‘I’m used to it.’

You nodded at Rosa, who quickly explained. “Victor and I knew sign language before we met (Y/N). It was just by chance that we happened to adopt her. She’s a sweet girl, Billy, she’s not that bad.”

“I know, I just wanted to ask,” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “Sorry if that made you uncomfortable, (Y/N).”

‘Don’t worry abt it,’ you wrote quickly, ‘I’m fine.’

***

School the next morning was the same as any other day. You got teased, picked on, mocked, the whole shebang. But today was special. After all, Billy was joining the school and you finally had someone to talk to. Or rather, just to hang out with. Sure, there was Freddy, but all he talked about was superheroes and pop culture, and that was enough to bore anyone. At some point, you had to just drone him out with a note that asked, ‘did you do the maths HW?’ to get him to shut up.

You walked silently into the school while Darla explained things. “This is our security scanner,” she said, taking her bag off, “like in an airport. It’s totally safe.”

“I know what it is,” Billy said awkwardly before turning to you, Pedro and Eugene who were standing behind him. “Is she always like this?”

The three of you nodded in confirmation and you shot Eugene a warning glare as he continued to play on his phone.

“Signs make me uncomfortable,” the little girl continued.

“She’s almost never uncomfortable,” Eugene responded, only to have his arm flicked. “Hey!”

‘Don’t be mean,’ you signed and the boy huffed.

Walking into the hallway, Darla attacked Billy with a hug around the legs. “Have a good first day, big brother!”

“Look, you don’t have to hug me all the time,” the brunet said, pulling away from the embrace, before crouching down to eye-level. “We’re not actually brother and sister, so…”

It pained you to see the disappointment in the girl’s eyes as she looked downcast. “Oh… I’m sorry,” she whispered softly and Billy’s smile evaporated.

Darla turned around and walked down the hall, Freddy noticing her immediately. “Hey!”

“Hey…”

He wrapped his free arm over her shoulders, Billy calling out, “I didn’t mean to make her-”

Freddy just shrugged before walking Darla down to her class. ‘Don’t worry,’ you wrote on your paper, ‘Darla is a strong girl. Ik you’re not too fond w us.’

“I didn’t mean to make her cry,” the boy repeated himself, a frown on his face.

‘Let’s just go to class, ok?’

“Yeah, okay.”

Lunch came around and you sat beside Billy at a lunch table, eating you gross cafeteria food. The two of you sat at lone table, as per usual, when Freddy limped towards the table. “Flight or invisibility?” He demanded as he sat down, roughly placing his tray of food on the table. He dropped his crutch and turned to face you and Billy. When no answer came from either of you, he asked again, ��if you could have one superpower, flight or invisibility? What would you pick?” Not letting you answer, Freddy began to ramble. “Everyone chooses flight! You know why?”

“So they could fly away from this conversation?” Billy asked sarcastically and you snickered from beside him.

“No, ‘cause heroes fly,” Freddy said, ignoring his statement. Billy rolled his eyes and went to stand up. “And- and, who doesn’t want people to think they’re a hero, right?” He continued to talk as Billy left the table, “but invisibility, no way, I mean, that’s pervy! Spying around on people who don’t even know you’re there? Sneaking around everywhere, that’s a total villain power, right?!” He yelled out the last words and the cafeteria turned silent as all heads turned towards him. Freddy huffed, grabbing his food and his crutch before chasing after his new brother.

“No,” you whispered under your breath, eyes on your food, “no one wants to be invisible because it hurts.”

“Hey, hey, hey, look who it is! Our second favourite foster child to pick on!” An oh-so annoying voice exclaimed. You didn’t need to turn around to see who it is.

“Wait, so who’s our first?” Burke asked his brother, smirk on his face.

“Freddy, of course, you brother of mine!” Brett snickered, “what are you gonna do, cry? What, are you sad you don’t have a real family?”

The two boys let out a laugh, high-fiving each other before leaving you alone. For some reason, if you could choose between flight and invisibility, you would choose flight. Then you’ll have both powers.

School came and went, and you walked beside Darla as you walked down the stairs. “How was your day, (Y/N)?”

‘Same as usual,’ you signed.

You looked to the front, only to see a car almost run Freddy over. You let out a scream, grabbing Darla’s hand and whipping Eugene’s phone away from him. Ignoring his cries of protest, you ran over to where Freddy was, helping him up. The car doors opened up to reveal Brett and Burke Breyer. You held in a groan.

“What the hell?” Mary snapped, “What is wrong with you two?”

Brett scoffed, pushing Freddy against the car with his shirt. “No way that’s gonna buff out.”

“You gonna pay for this, Freeman?”

“For the dent you made almost hitting me? Yeah, sure, you take these?” He pointed his middle finger in the air and you slapped your palm against your forehead. The boys let out sarcastic chuckles as they pushed your foster brother to the ground, relentlessly kicking him in the stomach.

“Brett, stop!” Mary yelled.

“Don’t touch my brother!” Darla cried.

“What, you need your fake family to stand up for you?” Burke laughed.

“Stand up for yourself, Freeman,” Brett laughed.

“Here, Freeman, stand up for yourself!” Burke snickered, shoving the crutch in Freddy’s face mockingly.

“What about you, (L/N)? Can’t do anything for your ‘brother’, can you?” Brett sneered.

“Leave him alone…” you mustered, feeling eyes at the back of your head.

“I can’t hear you!”

“Leave him alone!” You yelled, only to be pushed by Burke to the ground. You let out a cry when he kicked you in the stomach, trying to use your arms to block the blows.

“Pathetic,” he muttered before turning back to Freddy.

“What are you gonna do, go home and cry to mommy?” Brett taunted, bending down. “Oh, yeah, you don’t have a mommy!”

You got up to pull Brett away from Freddy, but apparently you didn’t have to. “Hey.” A voice sounded, and Burke turned around only to be hit in the face with Freddy’s crutch. Hitting Brett in the crown-jewels, Billy let out a sarcastic snicker. “Man, sorry about that. That wasn’t fair, but then again, you don’t fight fair.”

Burke let out a scowl, pushing Billy against the car and punching him harshly in the stomach. “Back off, ass-bags, I know how to use these!” Eugene snatched the nun chucks from Burke’s pocket and whipped them around before hitting himself with them.

Billy took the distraction and bolted away from the scene, the bullies about to start chasing them.

“Stop!” You screamed, pulling Brett back by his jacket.

He scowled at you, “let go, bitch!” he kicked you in the shin before running off to chase after Billy.

You whimpered in pain, clutching your shim as the boys left your view. “Freddy!” Your eyes lit up in remembrance, and tried your best to help him up.

“Take it easy,” Mary said while Pedro, Eugene and Darla helped Freddy up.

“I’m fine,” you mumbled, but you knew a bruise would start to form from where they hit you. Boy, did you hope Billy was okay.

***

You buried you head in your knees, hot tears flowing down your cheeks. The others were downstairs; Rosa was calling the police while Eugene and Mary were trying to find Billy online. Darla sat beside Mary, working hard on another craft project, while Pedro was doing… something.

If only you were stronger than this. Maybe if you had the strength to do something, Billy wouldn’t have run away. You wiped your face with your jumper sleeve, your eyes filling up with tears once more. Memories filled your head from before Rosa and Victor adopted you, and you choked back a sob. You whimpered, clutching your stomach that Rosa had wrapped in bandages; there was already a purplish bruise growing at the surface.

‘You’re weak.’ A voice echoed from the back of your head. ‘You can’t even speak.’

“Yes I can…”

‘It’s your fault mom isn’t here anymore. It’s your fault dad is dead.’

***

“You’re a bastard!”

“Lauren, how much did you have to drink?”

You crouched down from behind the bookshelf, a frown on your face. Why wasn’t dad looking for you?

“You have some nerve showing up! How’s your little mistress, Soren? How is she?!” Your mother let out a scream, the weapon in her hands shaking.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t be an idiot! You’ve been seeing her, haven’t you?! That’s why you show up late every day!”

“Lauren, I’m not cheating on you.”

“LIAR!” And that was all you heard when a deafening bang echoed around the house. Everything was happening in slow motion; the bullet made its way to meet your father’s chest, and your mother was screaming. Or maybe that was you. Maybe you were the one who was screaming, whether it be from fear, sadness, or shock. You heard sirens in the distance, and you heard the gun in your mother’s hands clatter to the floor.

“Hey, are you alright?” You burst into tears.

“I would like to call the prime witness, (Y/N) (L/N), the defendant and victim’s daughter.”

‘Just tell the truth,’ you repeated the words the prosecutor had told you.

“Who hurt your dad, (Y/N)?” The prosecutor asked, fixing up his cravat.

You frowned, recalling the incident. “Mommy did.”

“SHE’S LYING!” Lauren screamed when the judge gave his conviction, “YOU’RE A LIAR, (Y/N)! YOU’RE A DISAPPOINTMENT! YOU’RE A TERRIBLE DAUGHTER!”

The tears that cascaded down your face dropped on the floor, and you felt a hand on your shoulder. “It’s going to be alright.”

“Will it, Mr. Miles?”

“Let’s get you home.”

***

You snapped out of your flashback when you heard a creaking on the stairs. “Billy?”

You didn’t hear an answer when you heard a thunder crack, cutting out the power. You let out a shriek, falling backwards on your bed when you heard footsteps at the door. “(Y/N)? Are you okay?”

“Freddy? Is that you?” Using your phone’s flash as a torch, you guided yourself to the door. “Billy!” You threw your arms around him before quickly pulling away. “Sorry, I forgot you didn’t like hugs,” you mumbled before slapping your mouth with a hand.

Freddy awkwardly patted Billy on the shoulder, before retreating to his room.

You turned to leave, when the brunet grabbed you by the arm. “Hey, I’m sorry for today. Did I worry you?” Opening and closing your mouth like a fish, all could do was nod. Tears began to brim your eyes and Billy began to panic. “Oh no, please don’t cry, I don’t wanna make two girls cry in the same day.” You manage a small giggle before going to pull your notebook from your pocket when Billy stopped you again. “Please talk to me.”

“Okay.”

***

You sat cross-legged on your bed, Billy sitting on your wheelie-chair at your desk. “It’s been a while since I had someone to talk to.”

“No offense, but I though you couldn’t talk,” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“None taken. Like Victor said, childhood trauma. I mean, seeing your dad get murdered is pretty big, don’t you think?”

“Your dad was murdered?”

“My mom killed him. Had too much to drink and pew, pew, pew. One second dad was playing hide and seek with me, the next he was on the floor bleeding while mom was being arrested. I was the main witness in the murder, so I had to stand at the witness stand. You know what she said to me as she was being dragged away?”

“What?”

“She said I was a disappointment and a terrible daughter,” you fell back on the bed, a long sigh escaping you. “Ever since then, I was too scared to talk in fear of ruining someone else’s life. Rosa and Victor changed that for me.” You let out a little yawn.

“You sound tired. Maybe you should go to bed.”

“Who knows when I can talk to you again?” You mumbled, your eyelids drooping.

“(Y/N), you can talk to me anytime.”

“Yay… we’re friends!”

“We always were.”

***

Fast forward a few days later, you were at the mall buying Christmas gifts. It was after school and you had dropped off your things at home. You still hadn’t bought anything for your family which, to you, was a pretty big problem. You were just buying yourself a muffin when you heard screaming coming in all directions. Within seconds, the glass roof of the mall had shattered, showering people with glass. People were running in different directions when you heard it.

“Billy!” Oh no.

You whipped around, only to see Freddy being attacked by a flying man. Wait, what? Doing your best to do it quietly, you followed them, creeping behind them as the man flew, holding Freddy by his hoodie.

“Billy,” the man growled, pushing Freddy roughly against a locker. You flinched at the sound, concealing yourself behind the door. The man took his sunglasses off, revealing a glowing blue ball where his right eye should be.

“S-super villain,” Freddy stuttered, “Super villain! Super villain!”

“Worse. Much worse.”

The boy began to ramble, “I won’t let you read my mind; my mind is blank!”

Banging Freddy’s head against the locker, the man sneered. “I don’t have to read your mind, because you are going to tell me. Where is he?”

Dark grey mist filled the room, slowly turning into figures. Three figures were there, one with huge bat-like wings, another with spikes covering its body, and another with a long slimy tongue. “HELP! HELP!” Freddy screamed, trying to pull away.

“If you don’t tell me,” the man said slowly, the creatures advancing towards the two, “they’ll kill you.”

The one with the tongue crept closer and was about to gnaw on Freddy’s arm, when you screamed. “STOP IT! STOP! He did nothing!”

“(Y/N)? (Y/N), get away from here, leave! (Y/N), get out!”

“Oh, if it isn’t another brave hero,” The man jeered, “(Y/N), was it? Word of advice: leave before I make you.”

“Let Freddy go! Take me instead!”

“Only if I get what I want.”

“(Y/N), get out, Billy would never forgive me if-” Freddy slapped a hand over his mouth when he realised what he had done.

“So our little champion has a girlfriend.” The man flew over to you and you cowered against the wall. “Tell me where I can find Billy.”

“Never!” You spat.

“I’ll tell you where it is if you let her go!” Freddy exclaimed.

“Tell me first,” he bargained, “then I’ll let her go.”

“208 (random street). Now let her go.”

Without saying anything, one of the locker doors opened up revealing a haunted temple. The creature hissed at you before being absorbed back into the man’s body, not without the winged one pushing Freddy to floor. The man grabbed you by the neck, cutting off your air supply, before taking hold of Freddy. You and Freddy were carried through the door, when the man pushed you against the ground, kicking at the bruise on your stomach. You gasped in pain while Freddy let out a scream.

“You said you’ll let her go!”

“I lied.”

The man threw you against the wall and the last thing you saw was him taking a struggling Freddy through the door before your vision became blurry and all you could see was black.

***

The door of a foster home was knocked on, and Freddy could hear the excitement from behind the door. “Freddy?” Darla asked upon seeing her brother with a tall bald man.

“Oh, how quaint!” Sivana watched as Mary pushed her brothers behind her. He took his glasses off. “Actually, I take that back. What a shithole.”

“Freddy, where’s (Y/N)?” Eugene demanded, as he was forced to sit on the couch.

“I don’t know.” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them while Sivana gave a sneer.

Taking out a black phone from his pocket, the mad doctor called a very specific number. “Come home, Billy. Come home.”

From the other side of the line, Billy could hear the screams of his family. Running up the stairs of his birth-mother’s apartment, he made his way to the roof. Without thinking twice, he jumped. “SHAZAM!”

***

You let out a gasp in pain, and you felt as if you were electrocuted. Your head was pounding and you felt as if your chest was on fire. This was not how you expected things to go. Then again, what were you expecting? Nothing less from a super-villain. You tried your best to get up, clutching your stomach in pain. Where in the world were you?

The dark walls of the temple seemed to loom over you, and you did your best to crane your head. A few ways in front of you were 7 large chairs, tall and regal. Thrones? Why the hell would someone need 7 thrones? You grunted as you made your way towards them, stepping over a glowing staff. Boy, did you hope they were comfy. When you sat upon one of the thrones, memories flooded into your head. Freddy. What happened to him? What about you family; are they safe? And what did that man want with Billy? That’s when it hit you.

The supervillain wanted Billy. He wanted him for one sole purpose. Another thought wandered into your head. “Nah, he can’t be gay.” So why… “Billy’s the power guy from YouTube.”

“(Y/N)…” A voice echoed. “Get up from the throne.”

You flinched, looking up. “Who’s there?”

“Get up from the throne.”

Panic coursed through your veins but you did as you were told. “Where are you?”

With a flash of blinding light, red embers were before you, in the shape of an old man. The staff that was once on the floor was in the man’s hand and you stepped backwards in shock. “Do not be afraid.”

You couldn’t speak. It seemed as if there was a force constricting your throat, preventing you from speaking. All you could do was nod.

“I am the wizard who gave Billy Batson his powers.”

“Is he okay?” You blurted, clapping a hand over your mouth.

“He will be fine. But you will not be. Sivana had cracked a rib and if it is not treated, you can die.” You watched as the embers brought its hand to the front, the staff glowing powerfully. “Put a hand on the staff and I will heal you.”

You glanced at the staff sceptically. “Are you sure you’re the expert on this?”

“Hand on the staff, (Y/N) (L/N), before it is too late.”

“Why am I so important?”

“You will bring the champion both his rise and his destruction. Without you, there is no Billy Batson.” Impatiently, he thrust the staff towards you. “Hand on the staff.”

“Okay, okay!” You did as you were told.

“Asclepius, tin therapefsei apo tis pliges tis! Tis doste ti dynsmi ns therspefsei o, ti synanta!” (Asclepius, heal her of her wounds! Give her the power to heal all she meets!) Lightning seemed to engulf you as the man said these words and you felt your rib, stomach and head tingle with warmth. Your eyes snapped opened to fond that the man was no longer there and the staff was on the ground.

“Okay… thanks sir! I feel a lot better!” You called out, hearing the echoes.

You heard footsteps approach, and you began to freak out. This was not funny. Before you could let out a yell, a deafening “YAAAAAAH!” was heard and a figure in red, yellow and white zoomed past you, kitting against one of the thrones. That had to hurt. The figure grunted, and before you could stop yourself, you asked, “Billy?”

The man struggled to get up, looking at you for a split second. “(Y/N), get out of here, before-”

He was cut off by you being thrown against the wall by a grey mist. “Look, the brat is still alive.” Silvana stopped to pick up the staff that was lying at his feet. “I dedicated my live to get here.” The crystal in the staff glowed an eerie white, and you watched in horror as he walked closer to Billy. “I scoured the earth. No one believed me. On one helped; not the wizard, not my family. I only had myself.”

“I get it,” Billy said desperately, climbing onto his knees, “I get what that’s like. Feeling like you’re all alone in the world.”

“Stand.”

“Feeling like there’s this one thing and if you could just find it, then you’ll finally be good enough.”

“Stand.”

Billy did as he was told.

“The champion’s name,” Sivana pounded the staff on the ground. “Say it.” The grey mist wafted into the air, taking for of the hellish creatures. You flinched as they snarled at the hero.

“Look, no offence, mister, but I don’t think these things have your best interest at heart,” Billy tried, but his word had no effect.

“Don’t listen to this child,” Lust hissed.

“Take the staff,” Wrath snarled, hitting Billy on the back.

“Hold it, and say the champion’s name,” Sloth growled.

“They’re using you,” Billy tried again; “You have to see that they are using you.”

From the corner of your eye, you saw Darla, Mary, Freddy, Pedro and Eugene creep into the scene, each carrying absurd weapons.

“Say your name.”

A harsh shring sounded and Sivana yelped as the batarang fell to the floor. “His name is Captain Sparke-Fingers,” Freddy said, trying to ignore the crack in his voice. You joined them, taking out a pen from your pocket.

Mary gave you a look of ‘seriously?’ and you rolled your eyes, pointing to the calculus book she had in her hands.

“And we’re gonna keep throwing things at your big, fat, ugly head until you let our brother go,” Darla snapped and you wanted to run over and hug the little girl while reprimanding her to not be so rude.

Thinking fast, Billy picked the batarang off the floor and imbedded it into Sivana’s right shoulder and throwing him against the wall. “Ooh, am I glad I didn’t sell that batarang,” Billy exclaimed, running down the stairs. “Pedro, is that a lamp?”

“It’s my only one.”

“Come on, come on, come on! (Y/N), you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” you respond and the others were too freaked out to comment on your talkativeness.

“Guys, I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think your weapons are gonna help, you could put ‘em down now!” Captain Sparkle-Fingers cried out, turning a corner.

“The door was right here!” Eugene exclaimed.

“Billy, how do we get out of here?” Mary asked, exasperated.

“What, you think I know? I don’t know!”

Meanwhile, Darla was curiously wandering around the tunnels. “This way!” she yelled, pointing.

“Go, go, go, go, go, follow Darla! Good job, Darla!” Billy exclaimed, pushing his family into the tunnel. “Go, go, go, go…”

The six of you ran through the tunnels and over a brick bridge, Billy yelling out commands. Poor Freddy was doing more physical activity than he’s ever done in his life, while you were still wandering about what had happened before Billy and Sivana came through. Your group stopped at in a cave, gazing in amazement.

“Woah… so many doors…” Darla mumbled, staring at each one.

“One of these has to be a way out, right?” Mary asked hopefully, but you knew she was trying to make everything better.

“Yeah I would hope so,” Billy breathed out, eyes widening.

Eugene opened a dark oak door, revealing three crocodiles (alligators?) playing poker. The animals snapped their heads around before running for Eugene, who rushed to close the door. “Not this one.”

Pedro opened another door, and swirling smoke wisped around his feet. A small plant like creature poked out of the door, only for it to turn ugly and revealed its fang-like structures and lunging for Pedro. He closed it in a haste.

Mary and Darla opened a small square door, and the creature inside let out a roar.

“Okay, no more doors, nobody open anymore doors!” You exclaimed, throwing your hands up in exasperation.

“Come on, Billy, what are we gonna do?” Darla whined.

The boy- or man? - let out a sigh, “Darla, I don’t know!”

“Do what you used to do, just think! How did you get out last time?” Mary prompted desperately.

By now, everyone had crowded around the man in red. “Last time, I thought about the Subway and I was on the Subway!”

“That’s it then!” Freddy exclaimed, “Think about the Subway, think about any other place except for here!”

“You can do it, Billy,” you said, smile on your face.

Before anyone else could comment, Sivana advanced on your group. Lifting a hand, you saw his hand glow. Billy closed his eyes and you felt yourself grow dizzy for a split second, but when you opened your eyes, you were in… where were you? All you could hear was a poor excuse of music, all the while Billy pushing everyone out of the building.

“Really? This was the first place you could think of?” Mary reprimanded, hand covering Darla’s eyes.

“You’re welcome!”

“Where’s Freddy?” You asked.

At that moment, the said boy walked out of the building, yelling out, “you too sir, have a holly jolly Christmas!”

“Freddy, what are you doing?” Billy demanded.

“I was just- they were nice people!”

“Nice peop- never mind, come on!” Before any of you had walked 10 steps, an explosion sounded from behind you, and Sivana was in the air, carrying his staff. “Go, go, go, go, everybody go!” Billy huffed when he saw Freddy struggle. Proceeding to pick him up, he bolted to a carnival where he knew they should be safe for a while.

Yeah… well… not so much. Noticing Billy, people began to crowd around him. You shivered, your claustrophobia and social anxiety was not going to be happy.

“Are you the hero!?” “You’re the hero Power Storm!”

“Wait, no, he’s an impersonator!” Freddy exclaimed.

“Yeah! I’m an impersonation of myself!” Billy yelled and you were so close to hitting him. The crowd never wavered, asking multiple questions before he had enough. “Shazam!”

With a lightning strike and a puff of smoke, Billy was back to being Billy while the crowd wondered where the hero had gone. You lean in to whisper at the once-hero. “They’re thick, aren’t they?”

He nodded in agreement before pushing the others behind a wooden stall. “Champion!” A voice yelled from above, attracting people’s attention. “You don’t deserve that name; hiding behind innocent people who will now die, because deep down, you’re just a scared little boy.”

“Don’t listen to him, Billy,” You whispered, “you’re stronger than he makes you out to be.”

“RUN!” A voice yelled, and people began to clamour from their spots.

Sivana used the staff to send lightning at different parts in the carnival, one being the centre of the Ferris wheel. The wire holding the wheel to the ground was slowly tensioned, and the riders let out a scream.

“Well,” Billy began, turning to Freddy, “you wanted me to be a hero.”

“Are you kidding?” the boy demanded, “okay, no, old guys up there who is harbouring multiple spiritual entities, plus, I mean, he has the same powers as you, plus, he knows what he’s doing, plus, I mean, you’re my best friend and I don’t want you to die…”

“If a superhero can’t save his family…” he looked at the rest of his siblings before locking eyes with you. “He’s not much of a hero.”

He stepped out of his hiding spot, readying himself before yelling, “SHAZAM!” Within seconds, He had Sivana on the ground, exclaiming, “we’ll try that again!” He looked at Freddy with a bright grin, as if to say, ‘good?’

The boy shrugged his shoulders while the man gave an exasperated sigh. He was about to say something else, when Freddy let out a scream. “BILLY LOOK OUT!”

Said man ducked, springing upright and gaping at his family, “Laser eyes?! Guys, he has laser eyes! Too bad your aim sucks balls!”

Without warning, two arms sprang out from behind him, pulling him against the wooden building. The thing jumped out and threw the hero harshly to the ground, letting out a roar. Freddy watched the old man walk towards where Billy had landed, his eyes lighting up in realisation. “That’s his power matrix.”

“His what-what?” Eugene asked.

“When the demon guys leave his eye, he loses his power… that’s why the batarang hurt him.”

You were about to respond when Mary had to open her mouth. “Hey! Over here!”

“Wait, what are you doing?!”

“Trust me, dividing conquer. We separate the sins from the eye and he’s just an old man.”

The six of you watched in horror as the sins emerged in grey smoke, each letting out terrible screeches. You bolted into the carnival as you heard all your siblings being snatched one by one. Man, you should have payed more attention in gym. You ducked from Pride who grabbed hold of Eugene and while Greed snatched Darla from Mary. ‘RUN, RUN, RUN!’ Your mind screamed, all the while your lungs were begging for a small break. You tried your best to even out your breathing and ignoring the burning in your chest when you realised. You weren’t tired. Why the hell were you not tired?

You sprinted over to the pin ball area, Mary right on your heels. “Where… did you learn… to run like that?” Mary breathed and you shrugged in response.

You turned your attention to Sivana who was repeatedly dunking Billy’s head under water, basically drowning him. Thinking fast, you shoved a quarter (or dollar) into the machine while Mary took hold of it. “Hey.” As soon as Silvana’s head turned, she fired.

You froze as Sivana caught the little ball in between his pointer finger and his thumb when you heard a soft growling from behind you. “Ah, shit.”

You let out a scream as Gluttony dragged you into a tent where all your other siblings were being held against their will. “Nice trick,” Sivana said, “catchy. One simple word. I have a better trick. Three words,” he turned to Gluttony with a sneer, “kill the girlfriend.” (PLOTTWIST, IT TRIES TO EAT MARY)

Your siblings let out screams as you felt Gluttony’s slimy tongue stretch and you tried your best to pull away. From beside you, you heard Mary’s pleads to stop while you heard your other siblings crying out in desperation.

“STOP!” Billy yelled and Gluttony put you down. You let out a gasp, falling to your knees, your legs giving way. You felt Wrath drag you in front of him and you let out a whimper.

“Billy, there’s one more demon guy in his eye!” Freddy exclaimed. “You just gotta rip it out of its face hole -” He was cut off by Sloth’s fingers wrapping over his mouth.

“It’s where he gets his power,” Mary continued.

“Reach for it,” Sivana said in a whisper, “I dare you.” Instead, Billy got onto his knees while Sivana nodded in victory, “wise decision. Hands on the staff.”

“Don’t do it Billy!”

“Billy, don’t do this, Billy!”

Ignoring their pleas, the hero placed a hesitant hand on the staff. You looked up to find all the sins but Wrath be absorbed into Sivana’s body and fear forced its way into your heart. Billy grasped the staff firmly on the staff. While Sivana was distracted, the hero flipped the staff out of his hands and hit him in the chest, pushing the villain to the ground. Wrath let out a roar and took hold of your waist, holding you roughly as it ran off. You let out a shriek, eyes squeezed together. Just as you though all hope was lost, you heard lightning strike.

Wrath growled, turning back to the tent it was just on. You took this to your advantage and wiggled your way out before sprinting as fast as you could away from the sin. Oh hell no were you gonna be eaten today.

You ran to the only place you thought was safe- the tent. Come on, who doesn’t want to be near a superhero while the world was being annihilated. You found yourself nearing the tent when there was a crash. A girl wearing a purple jumpsuit and white cape whizzed past you. That’s when you saw the sins emerge. Wrath was battling a green hero and you couldn’t help but groan. “Ah, shit.”

A blue hero flew past you, Pride just behind him. You could hear people creaming as the winged creature hit the Ferris wheel, causing some of the screw to fling off. Panic over took you. What were you supposed to do? Run away? Get the heroes to save them? Apparently you didn’t need to tell anyone; they already saw. One lady was falling with a yell, when the purple hero rushed – quite literally – and saved her.

“Hi! Wow, I caught you!” While she ran to get you to safety, you hid in a booth.

You should be safe… right? Pulling your phone out, you decided to film the whole thing. Might as well broadcast it.

***

You quietly emerged from your hiding place when you saw the red one – Billy – pull the eye out of Sivana. People from all over the carnival let out cheers of thanks and congratulations, and you clapped loudly yourself. The five other heroes flew down to meet their leader, and that’s when you realised. Your siblings were heroes?! So this is what happens when people get abducted.

Moments later, you found yourself face to face with the 6 heroes. “Billy!” You grinned, jumping up and down. “I’d hug you, but I can’t take you seriously like that.” You laughed, looking at the other heroes. “Hey, guys!”

“(Y/N), you’re alright!” Freddy (the blue one, you assumed) exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’m okay. You’re a superhero! Didn’t think your 5 year old birthday wish would come true,” you grinned up at him. “Pedro, Mary, Eugene, Darla! You all look so good!”

“Thanks!” Darla (the purple one?) giggled.

“Where now?” Mary asked, looking around, “where are we going to put the Eye?

Billy just grinned. “I know a place.”

With a flash of blinding light, the 7 of you found yourself back in the haunted cave. “You sure this is gonna work?” Eugene asked, forever the sceptic.

When Billy placed the eye on its stand, coral like structured encompassed it, and the 7 deadly sins were put back in their designated statues.

“You guys know what this place is, right?” Freddy asked, excitement lighting up his eyes.

“A dark haunted cave with demon statues,” Darla muttered while the others nodded in agreement.

The blue hero slowly nodded. “Well, yes, but also…”

He looked at Billy expectantly. “Lair! We gotta lair!”

The others grinned and chatted in excitement while you wandered to the thrones. “Is there supposed to be another hero?”

Eugene counted the thrones in his head. “7 thrones, 6 heroes…”

Ashes quickly began to swirl around you and you gazed at them in wonder. “That’s him!” Billy exclaimed, “that’s the Wizard!”

“Obviously,” the ashes said. “As you can see, there are 7 thrones. Mary is the Wisdom of Solomon. Pedro is the Strength of Hercules. Eugene is the Power of Zeus. Freddy is the Courage of Achilles. Darla is the Speed of Mercury. Billy is all of these powers.” Each sat at their designated thrones, leaving you at the bottom of the stairs. Just as you were about to pipe up, the Wizard cut you off. “Do not think I had forgotten you, young child. You are holding these heroes together. Without you they are nothing. You are the Stamina of Atlas and the Healing of Asclepius. Together, the 7 of you will protect the earth. Together, you are the saviours. Until we meet again, dear heroes,” with that, the Wizard’s ashes were blown away.

You awkwardly shuffled in your seat. “You think we can go now?”

***

The next day, you and your family took their seats at the dining table. Things had happened, to say the least. You sat beside Billy, and you felt him squeeze your hand from other the table. You offered a smile.

“Guys,” Billy piped up, attracting all their attention. “All hands on deck.” With exclaims from Rosa and Victor, Billy began his prayer. “Thank you for this food. Thank you for this day. And thank you for this family. And, maybe this time I’ll stay.” They all pulled their hands back, Billy continuing to speak. “Because after all. I’m home.”

EXTENDED ENDING (you know what I’m talkin’ about)

School the next day was, as usual, utter crap, especially for Freddy. Ever since the Human Power Storm didn’t show up to lunch a few days prior, things were hell. Billy had a bad cough that morning and stayed home, and you had different classes to him, leaving him alone. He wandered into the cafeteria with his tray and taking a seat at the back table. Almost immediately the people who were once occupying the seats had left.

You took a seat across from him.

“What are you doin’,” you heard Brett ask, “Waiting for your imaginary BFF to show up?”

Burke snickered and stole one of Freddy’s fries (or chips), shoving his head. Seconds later, Eugene, Mary, Darla and Pedro appeared taking their seats.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Why, we’re having lunch with you,” Mary said, pretending to be offended.

“I thought you had different lunch periods.”

“Well, we made a very special arrangement.”

The boy side-eyed Darla. “Darla, what’s going on?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Freddy Freeman!” A deep voice called out and said boy let out a snort, covering his face with the back of his hand. The kids let out exclaims of delight while the hero continued to speak. “This guy taught me everything I know about being a dope superhero, true story; you should get a few pointers from him.” He took a seat beside the curly haired boy. “What’s going on, my best bud, in the whole world, and also new kids who I’m meeting for the first time who also seem really cool.”

You exchange looks with Darla who was grinning ear to ear. You knew what was coming up next.

“I invited another friend, I hope that’s okay.”

A man in a blue costume with a diamond logo began to walk towards the table. Oh, if only you could see Brett and Burke’s face.

Freddy turned around, only to see his idol. He jumped ten feet.

#Billy Batson x reader #asher angel x reader #shazam! x reader #DC comics x reader #DC #DC comics #DCU x reader #Freddy Freeman x reader #7k+#6k+

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losersclubbitches · 6 years ago

Text

Doctor’s Office Anxiety

TW: past abuse mentioned

“William Batson and Frederick to the front office, please. William Batson and Frederick Freeman to the front office, please,” the monotone voice called over the intercom. Billy’s face burned bright red as the entire class turned to took at him and Freddy. His foster brother didn’t look a tad bit embarrassed and even gave his signature dorky smile to their classmates. The two boys packed up their things and left the classroom.

“What did we do?” Billy asked as they headed down the hallway.

“I haven’t done anything,” Freddy answered. “Have you?”

“Nope.” They arrived at the front office to see Victor and Rosa waiting for them. Billy and Freddy exchanged a nervous glance and pushed the door open together.

“There you are! We’re going to be late!” Rosa exclaimed. Billy frowned in confusion, but the color drained from Freddy’s face instantly.

“It’s Thursday already?” he asked, gulping. Billy’s frown deepened. Rosa put a gentle hand on Freddy’s shoulder.

“Second Thursday of the month,” she confirmed. Freddy gulped again and Billy noticed that his grip on his crutch tightened.

“Is it too late to cancel?” Freddy asked. Victor and Rosa just chuckled.

“Cancel what?” Billy asked, looking at the three people in the room in turn.

“Physical therapy,” Freddy replied with a shudder. When Billy sent him another confused look, he continued. “For my leg. Hurts like hell when I go, but PT is required twice a month by my doctor.” Freddy glowered. Billy faltered. unsure what to say.

“Oh. I’m sorry, man.” Freddy just shrugged.

“Alright, we need to go, boys. We’re already late,” Victor said, ushering his sons out the doors.

“Why is Billy coming?” Freddy asked. “No offense.”

“None taken. I’m confused, too.” The four got into the van, buckling up.

“Billy has a doctor’s appointment at 1 and we didn’t think it appropriate to make multiple trips to the school and the hospital,” Rosa explained as they drove away. The boys frowned to each other.

“Doctor’s appointment? For what?” they asked together, looking to the front.

“To catch up on your shots, Billy,” Victor replied.

“Sh-shots?” It was Billy’s turn to gulp.

“Do you guys listen to a word we say?” Rosa teased. “We told you Billy had a doctor’s appointment today last night.” Billy and Freddy exchanged another look.

“When?” they asked.

“Last night while you were getting ready for bed,” Victor told them.

“Oh. But last night, we were...” Freddy was cut off when a hand slapped over his mouth.

“So tired we could barely function,” Billy finished for him, laughing awkwardly. Freddy soon caught on and was laughing as well, pushing his brother’s hand away.

“Yep. Definitely tired. Not out doing superhero stuff at all,” Freddy rambled. “I don’t know why I said that. Just ignore me.” He laughed again, more awkwardly this time, before finishing off the bout of laughter with a heavy sigh. Victor and Rosa looked at the two skeptically again, but didn’t say anything. When they arrived at the hospital, they checked in both Billy and Freddy, then sat in the PT waiting room. As they waited, Freddy’s right leg shook violently, causing the couch the two boys were sitting on to shake with him.

“Nervous?” Billy asked teasingly. Freddy just rapped his fingers against the armrest rhythmically. “Freddy,” Billy tried gently, like he’d seen Rosa do millions of times.

“Kind of. That guy makes me uncomfortable being so close to my leg,” Freddy admitted.”It’s a real trigger spot for me, you know? And I know he wouldn’t actually hurt me, but I’ve thought that about a lot of people and look where that got me: involuntarily bounced around from home to home to home because no one wants a cripple and people really don’t want an autistic cripple, ‘cause he cant keep his damn mouth shut and likes superheroes just a little too much. This house is my last option before one of those overcrowded group homes and this is a damn good option, because Victor and Rosa don’t mind that I love supers. In fact, they don’t mind any of my quirks and even go along with them. Which is really nice, because not all foster families like washing a kid’s clothes with a specific detergent and folding them in a specific way. They usually don’t like having to make separate meals sometimes because I can’t eat what everyone else does ‘cause it feels weird on my tongue. Not every family likes dealing with constant sensory overloads and meltdowns because there’s just too much sensory input everywhere all the time, man. Not all families want to deal with that. Victor and Rosa do, and it’s really nice, ya know?” When his rambling stopped, Freddy took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, settling down a bit now that that was off his chest. Billy blinked, trying to take in all the information he’d just been told and trying to formulate a proper response. Freddy being autistic and constantly passed from house to house wasn’t at all surprising to Billy having known the boy as long as he had. A question was poking at the back of his mind and before he could stop them, words were tumbling from his mouth.

“What happened? To your leg, I mean,” he inquired.

“Same thing that landed me in foster,” Freddy answered, seemingly unfazed by the question. “Abusive parents. Went too far once and broke my leg and part of my spine. Ended up in the hospital for about a month. Diagnosis: unilateral paralysis.” Billy breathed out a heavy sigh; he hadn’t known that.

“O-oh. I, uh.” Billy stumbled for a moment before Freddy caught on.

“You weren’t meant to,” he assured, sending a smile to his brother. Billy smiled back. There was a moment of silence before Billy broke it.

“Ya know, if you want, I can go in with you,” he offered.

“Sure, but why?” Freddy replied, quirking an eyebrow.

“Beats sitting out here waiting to get stuck with a needle,” Billy answered with a shrug. Freddy was about to inquire further when he heard his name.

“Freddy Freeman? Dr. Constance will see you now,” the assistant informed. Freddy nodded and, with a gulp, grabbed his crutch from where it had fallen on the ground and made his way to the door; Billy following closely behind. They made their way to the PT room near the back.

“Hi, Dr. Constance,” Freddy greeted happily. “I brought my foster brother, Billy. Is that alright?”

“Of course, Freddy. Like I’ve said, this is your session. You can bring whomever or whatever you want. It’s nice to meet you, Billy. Freddy’s told me quite a bit about you,” Dr. Constance greeted, looking up from the papers on his desk.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, sir,” Billy replied, shaking the man’s hand when it was offered.

“Well, you’re welcome to take my chair while Freddy and I get started.” Billy took the seat while Freddy and the doctor sat on the padded floor. “How has your homework been going?” Dr. Constance asked.

“Pretty well. I take the stairs as often as possible and I do the exercises sometimes when I can and those help,” Freddy answered.

“Great. Why don’t we get started with some of the basic stretches, okay?” Dr. Constance extended his legs and Freddy followed. “Just let me know if you’re in too much pain.”

“Okay.” Freddy and Dr. Constance worked out Freddy’s left leg with a series of stretches that Billy had seen before once upon a time when a previous foster family’s daughter took gymnastics. They stretched like that for around thirty minutes, Freddy taking a couple breaks to rest his leg.

“Alright, Freddy. You’re doing great so far,” Dr. Constance praised. “I wanna do some more advanced stretches, alright?”

“Alright,” Freddy agreed, though his voice shook. Dr. Constance took notice, because he looked at Billy.

“Hey, Billy, could you come here?” he requested. Billy nodded and turned off his phone, tucking it into his back pocket and moving to kneel next to his brother.

“What’s up, doc?” he asked. Freddy snorted.

“Take Freddy’s hand for me.” Billy did. “And let me know if he squeezes.”

“Okay.” Dr. Constance turned to Freddy.

“Freddy, I want you to squeeze Billy’s hand if you feel a lot of pain, okay?” he instructed. Freddy nodded. Dr. Constance gently grabbed Freddy’s ankle with one hand and his knee with the other and pushed slowly so that Freddy’s knee was moving toward his chest. Before it got there, though, Freddy gripped Billy;s hand hard enough to hurt. Billy sucked in a sharp breath and made eye contact with the physical therapist who stopped his movements abruptly.

“Alright. That’s really good, Freddy. You’re getting better,” Dr. Constance praised again. “I’m gonna move your leg outward. Squeeze Billy’s hand if you feel too much pain.”

“Okay.” When his hip was around a 45 degree angle, Freddy grasped Billy’s hand. Billy looked at Dr. Constance, who nodded and stopped the movement of Freddy’s leg. He then moved the leg along its full range of motion: up, out, in, down, a few times. The entire time, Billy didn’t let go of Freddy’s hand, rubbing slow, gentle circles on his brother’s palm and the back of his hand. It seemed to calm Freddy down, as the look of discomfort was only due to the slight pain in his leg. When his PT was done, he did some light stretches to calm down the muscles in his leg.

“I am very proud of you, Freddy. I will see you in two weeks,” Dr. Constance offered in goodbye. Billy and Freddy waved to him and ventured back down the hallway to the waiting room, where Rosa was waiting for them.

“Oh, good, you’re just in time!” Rosa exclaimed, ushering the two out of the PT building and into the adjacent one. “Your doctor just called you, Billy.” Billy gulped; he had forgotten about his own appointment. He couldn’t protest, though; Victor and Rosa had already spent time, energy, and money on this and he didn’t want to seem ungrateful for their efforts.

“R-right,” Billy stuttered. He looked around the building for a potential momentary escape and saw the familiar sign. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Right now?” Rosa asked, but Billy wasn’t listening, instead hurrying off to the bathroom. His heart raced as he rushed into the largest stall and locked the door. He curled up in the corner next to the toilet, knees to his chest and hands gripping his hair. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and the walls were closing in on him. Two words crossed his mind: panic attack. He was having a panic attack. He couldn’t stop it, but he knew he was having one. That was a start, right? Suddenly, there was a knock on the stall door, jolting him out of his paralytically fearful trance.

“Billy, are you in there?” he heard Freddy ask. Billy just whimpered in answer, unable to find his voice. “Billy, can you open the door?” Billy shook his head before realizing that Freddy couldn’t see him.

“N-no,” he rasped. He heard Freddy sigh heavily.

“You’re really gonna make me do this, huh?” he mumbled. Billy wanted to ask what he was gonna do, but Freddy was already sliding through the gap under the door, groaning.

“Please go away,” Billy begged, hands tangled in his hair.

“No can do, bro. Not until you tell me what’s wrong,” Freddy protested. Billy contemplated just staying where he was for the rest of his life, but then he remembered that he’d have to get shots sooner or later; sooner if he kept leaning against the toilet.

“I’m scared,” he mumbled into his knees. He felt tears slipping down his cheeks hotly.

“What?”

“I’m scared, okay!” Billy shouted. “Needles scare me. A lot. When I was seven, I stayed with a family who did heroin pretty much daily. There were needles everywhere and the parents were awful to me and even ignored their own son. One time, they injected us with heroin to get us to be quiet. So, no. I don’t trust needles and I don’t trust people with needles, either.” Billy was full on sobbing now, but he didn’t care. It was nice to get it off his chest; especially to someone he trusted and who had already trusted him with a revelation.

“Wow. That sucks, man,” Freddy replied after a moment. “Why don’t you hold my hand?”

“What?”

“Hold my hand and squeeze if you’re scared,” Freddy repeated. “Like you did for me.” Billy wiped the tears from his face and nodded at Freddy.

“Okay.” He stood up and helped Freddy up, too; unlocking the door and leaving the bathroom.

“Billy, mi amor, are you alright?” Rosa asked, caressing her son’s cheek with one thumb.

“I’m scared of needles,” Billy confessed. “But I’m ready now.”

“Alright. Let’s go, sweetie.” She ushered him in through the doors and back to the office, where Victor and the doctor were waiting for them. When Billy saw the seven needles lined up on the cart next to the doctor, he almost turned and ran again, but then he felt Freddy’s hand slip around his and squeeze reassuringly.

“Alright, hop up on that bed for me, Billy,” the doctor requested. Billy complied, climbing onto the squishy surface and kicking his legs back and forth to calm himself.

“Now, we’re gonna need you to take off your jacket and shirt, okay?” the doctor told him.

“Okay.” Billy took off his top layers, leaving himself bare chested and a little bit awkward and uncomfortable. Freddy hadn’t let go of his hand for more than a second and Billy appreciated that.

“Okay, Billy. You’re gonna need seven shots today. We’ve split them up evenly so you’ll get three shots in each arm,” the doctor explained, pulling on gloves and organizing the needles on the cart. “Is there an arm you’d prefer to have the fourth shot in?”

“Left,” Billy told her. “What are the shots for?”

“Vaccinations and immunizations,” the doctor replied, sterilizing his right shoulder. “Your parents don’t want you sick.” Billy sent Victor and Rosa a grateful look and they smiled back at him.

“Cool.”

“Okay, Billy. We’re going to start with your right arm.” Billy nodded and the doctor picked up one of the needles and prepared it. Billy felt Freddy squeeze his hand and looked over. Freddy gave a toothy grin and Billy returned it with his own, nervous smile. He felt a slight prick in his arm and flinched. Freddy squeezed his hand reassuringly again. Billy took a deep breath and steeled himself for the next six pricks. He distracted himself by thinking about how free he felt while flying and how happy Freddy was to be flying and the shots were over in almost an instant. When he came back to reality, Rosa was rubbing his bare, right shoulder blade.

“You’re all done, sweetie,” she told him, smiling sweetly.

“Oh.” Billy pulled back on his shirt and jacket and hopped off the bed. Rosa squeezed Billy’s hand; the one Freddy wasn’t holding, and smiled at him.

“I’m so proud of you, mijo,” she praised, gingerly kissing the side of his head.

“Thanks.” Billy looked down at his dirty, beat up Converse, cheeks flushing as red as his hoodie.

@freddyfreebat, I hope you liked it!

#billy batson #freddy freeman #rosa vasquez #victor vasquez #shazam #physical therapy #shots #doctors #fear #autism #freddy freeman has autism #original work

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kricketwritesstories · 6 years ago

Text

When the Moon Fell in Love with the Sun (pt 4)

“Did you hear something,” Freddy asked as he paused the video game.

It was late Friday night and you had already gone home. You were in one of your “dark knight broods” as Freddy started to call them.

Billy nodded and the two looked at one another and snuck down to the staircase. They were both shocked to see their principal standing in their living room...crying.

“Principal Tyson,” Rosa said softly, “are you all right?”

She sniffled, “I’m so sorry to intrude like this.”

“I’m guessing it’s not about any of our kids,” Victor asked tentatively.

Principal Tyson shook her head, “No, I need advice.”

“From us,” the couple said at the same time.

“Yes... you see you two inspired me - especially after seeing Billy Batson’s record and how he’s turned around in such a short time.”

“I don’t understand,” Rosa said as she motioned for her to sit on the couch.

“Would you like some coffee or tea,” Victor asked.

“Tea, thank you,” she nodded as she sat down, “I decided to become a foster parent. I always wanted kids but it just never happened for me.”

Rosa nodded in understanding, “Ah, having second thoughts? Process getting overwhelming?”

“Not exactly,” she said as she took the tea from Victor, “I already went through all that. It’s just. My foster child....something is going on with her and she won’t let me help. She has these episodes where she screams and cries in her sleep. I go to check on her and her body is like it’s curled in on itself and she can’t move. I help her get out of it but as soon as she’s fully awake she keeps away from me. She won’t let me help. I can’t imagine what she’s been through to cause it. I’ve done some research it seems like it’s sleep paralysis. I’ve offered to take Y/N to the doctor but she threatens to run away.”

“Y/N,” Billy and Freddy whispered.

“Y/N,” Rosa said surprised, “the Y/N that’s been over my house everyday the past couple months?”

Principal Tyson nodded, “I promised her I wouldn’t say anything. Being the principal’s kid would put a target on her. I just want her to feel safe. She’s always looking over her shoulder. Some days when she comes home after being over here, she’s actually warmed up. She’ll talk to me - mostly about hanging out with your boys.”

Billy stood up and walked to his and Freddy’s room, Freddy followed suit.

“Where are you going,” Freddy asked as Billy put on his jacket.

“To check on Y/N,” he said as he opened the window.

“I’m coming too,” Freddy insisted.

“No,” Billy said sternly.

“Why the hell not,” Freddy said defensively.

Billy sighed and shook his head, “There are things you don’t know about. Things I can’t tell you.”

“What are you two together,” Freddy said voicing his fear.

“No,” Billy said in an odd tone, “no. There are things that aren’t my place to tell you. If she is having sleep paralysis and we both go over there she’s more likely to run.”

“Then I’ll go,” Freddy insisted.

“What? No,” Billy laughed, “I’ve known her longer, and I know more of what’s going on.”

“Do you know that she doesn’t make eye contact with any of us on the days she thinks about running? Do you know that every single time I’ve noticed I’ve asked her to stay and every single time I’ve asked her she bites her lip and paused for a bit...and then she stays,” Freddy said puffing his chest as much as he could, “No didn’t think so - SHAZAM!”

Before Billy could think, Freddy in superhero form was already flying out of the window.

***

It occurred to Freddy five minutes later that he had no idea where Principal Tyson lived. He couldn’t go back home and admit defeat though. No way would he let Billy be your hero. He shook his head at the thought. It was selfish, you needed help...and if Billy was the one who could help you then that’s all that mattered.

Just as Freddy was turning around to head home, he saw you walking the streets. He landed a ways away from you in an alley and said, “SHAZAM!”

Quickly he tried to catch up to you.

“Y/N,” he called.

You turned quickly ready to punch, and stopped short when you saw Freddy.

“Freddy, what are you doing out so late,” you asked surprised.

“Me? What about you,” he shot back.

“Nothing,” you lied.

“Stay,” he asked as you turned your back.

“You can’t keep asking me to stay and expecting it to work,” you said darkly refusing to turn and look at him.

“Why it has so far,” Freddy said smiling.

“I can’t stay,” you whispered, “I’m not safe.”

“If you’re not safe with Principal Tyson then I don’t know who els....oh crap,” Freddy said realizing his slip up.

You turned around slowly, “How did -“

“She’s at our house right now crying her eyes out because she just wants to help and you won’t let her,” Freddy said as softly as he could.

Your eyes glinted with rage and he took a step back, “I know what kind of help mothers give, no thank you. Now go home, Freddy, it’s late.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Freddy retorted, “I can walk with you if I want...unless you don’t want me to...”

“It’s not safe for you...it’s dark out,” you said lamely.

“And it’s safe for you,” he said mockingly with an eyebrow raised.

“Freddy, you’re a literal ray of human sunshine...you don’t belong out after dark,” you said sadly.

Instinctively, he reached for your hand and you took it without thinking.

“The moon only shines cause it reflects the light of the sun,” Freddy said awkwardly, “so if you ask me, Miss Moon, you need me to walk through the night.”

You were dumbstruck. That was a good line. The thing that made it even better is it wasn’t even meant to be a line. Every bit of him radiated sincerity and you couldn’t help but smile at him.

You sighed in defeat, “Walk me home?”

A giant smile broke out on Freddy’s face and you could’ve sworn that the night brightened by 100 watts. He tightened his grip on your hand and said, “I have no idea where it is, but definitely!”

You laughed and said, “I’ll lead the way!”

#freddy freeman #freddy freeman x reader #fluff #shazam #mutual pining

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thecomicsnexus · 6 years ago

Photo

JUSTICE LEAGUE #7-11, 0, 14-16, 18-21 MAY 2012 - AUGUST 2013 BY GEOFF JOHNS, GARY FRANK AND BRAD ANDERSON

SYNOPSIS (MIXED WITH DC DATABASE AND COMIC VINE)

Doctor Thaddeus Sivana is investigating reports of people across the world being mystically abducted by an old wizard. Upon finding them unworthy, he sends them back home. Sivana is convinced that these stories prove magic is real.

Seven months later, Billy Batson is in a boarding home and being interviewed by potential foster parents. He acts like a good boy so the Vasquezes will become his foster parents. As soon as they leave he makes insulting comments and is excited to have finally tricked someone into getting him out of there.

Billy Batson begins his new life with the Vasquezes, but he has a hard time adjusting to his foster family.

Billy Batson and his foster siblings go to school. While walking home, some kids start bullying them, and Billy fights them off. The principal threatens to expel Billy.

Doctor Sivana finds a door in his archaeological dig that he thinks is the tomb of Black Adam. He tries to open it, and lightning emits from the door and strikes his face. He falls to the ground, then begins laughing, saying he can see magic.

Foster parents Victor and Rosa Vasquez discuss Billy Batson and the events of last issue. Victor suggests that Billy was doing some play acting when they met him at child services, and that he is showing his true colors now. Rosa defends Billy, suggesting that Billy's encounter with Mr. Bryer has left Billy traumatized. Mr. Bryer is the richest man in Philadelphia, and the father of the four nasty bullies who are bullying Billy's new family at school. Mr. Bryer is a pretty nasty fellow himself, and Billy had the guts to stand up to him. But now Billy has hardly touched his hamburger, and Victor is concerned. Victor expresses frustration, telling Rosa that Billy never gave them a chance.

In fact, Billy is in his room, packing that hamburger in his backpack. He leaves the pickles behind, and sneaks out. Billy heads to a zoo, crawling in through a breach in the brick wall, and feeds the hamburger to Tawny, a tiger that Billy seems to know personally. Freddy tails Billy, but is eventually spotted by him. Billy pushes Freddy, who tumbles down in the snow. Freddy admits he previously lifted Billy's wallet out of curiosity, but did not steal anything.

Billy and Freddy discuss the problem with the Bryer brothers. Freddy reveals that the four bullies have been bothering them daily for quite a while. Freddy usually distracts the bullies so that Mary can help the younger ones get away.

Freddy tries to convince Billy to give Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez a chance. But Billy defiantly says "They aren't my parents."

Freddy thanks Billy for intervening when the bullies were bothering them. They consider heading to the Bryer home to get even.

45 miles north of Baghdad, Dr. Sivana continues the archaeological dig at the Tomb of Black Adam. Aided by his magical right eye, (see last issue), Sivana is now able to read the hieroglyphs. They tell him that he can release Black Adam and bring magic to the world with the utterance of a single word. Sivana quietly speaks the word "Shazam", the magic lightning hits, and a hooded Black Adam stands before him, asking for the Wizard.

The recently freed Black Adam demands that Dr. Sivana take him to see the wizard. Meanwhile, Billy Batson and Freddy try to break into one of the Bryer's cars, but they get caught. Billy pushes Freddy in some bushes to hide him, while he escapes on the subway. But the subway doesn't take him where he thinks it will …

Billy Batson makes his way through the labyrinthine halls of the Rock of Eternity. The place seems deserted, though the boy hears the echoes of whispered voices.

“It’s just a boy.”

“What’s he look like?”

“The lad looks awfully small to me! He’ll never break the curse! Send him back already!”

Another voice, a more commanding voice, beckons him onward, deeper into the temple. He passes unimaginable marvels. Behind one door, an indoor snowstorm, memories of a childhood snowman. Down a hall, illusive specters of the Seven Deadly Sins of Man.

And at the end of the hall, six empty thrones, with an impossibly ancient man seated in the seventh. He is the last of the Council of Wizards, and the Keeper of the greatest magical fortress in all existence, the Rock of Eternity.

The Wizard seeks a mystical warrior who is pure good, but the boy his magic has summoned is far from pure.

Billy Batson doesn’t believe that a purely good person exists. “People are horrible. They disappoint you. They let you down. I’ve spent my life learning that... You’re searching for something that doesn’t really exist. That’s why you’ve never found it.”

Time runs short for the Wizard. Black Adam has already been freed from imprisonment. He searches the boy’s mind for the embers of good, seeking even a glimmer of hope.

And though Billy Batson is not the warrior of pure good he sought, the Wizard does see potential in him. He teaches the boy the word that will summon his magics. The word that when spoken with purpose, with belief, with good intentions, will transform him into his greatest potential.

“SHAZAM!”

Billy Batson inherits the Wizard’s chair on the Council of Eternity, and with it, the Power of the Living Lightning. He will be able to travel through the sky as lightning does, to fight with the strength of a demigod.

And he will have to fight, to stop Black Adam from awakening the Seven Deadly Sins of Man. Black Adam will stop at nothing to become absolute ruler of all magic.

As the Wizard passes from this world, he declares Billy Batson magic’s champion. Billy Batson is now Shazam!

Billy Batson returns from the Rock of Eternity, now in possession of the Power of the Living Lightning. And as his first act as magic’s champion, Billy Batson pays a visit to the Bryers’ house. With his magnificent strength, he lifts the Bryers’ car into the air before casually crumpling it hood first into the ground.

He and Freddy then try to use his now adult appearance to buy beer, but Billy feels a bit conspicuous in cloak and magic armor. He also has a hard time interacting with electrical objects, causing them to explode with living magic.

As it grows late, the criminal element of Philadelphia makes itself known. Freddy and Billy witness a mugging, and Billy decides to intervene. He swats the criminal aside, but his strength is greater than he realizes, and the man goes flying into the side of a nearby car.

The woman he saved is incredibly grateful, and she asks if there is any way she can thank him. Freddy suggests that Billy should ask for some cash, and the woman awkwardly hands him a twenty dollar bill.

As the woman shouts her thanks, the boys walk away to celebrate their newfound source of income.

Black Adam and Dr. Sivana begin to track down the Seven Deadly Sins, starting with Sloth, freeing them. Meanwhile, Billy Batson and Freddy buy a coat to cover up his Shazam costume.

Black Adam overpowers Shazam but he escapes by transforming back into Billy and blending into the crowd.

While Black Adam is looking for Shazam, Billy Batson and his foster family try to visit the old wizard, so Billy can convince him to give his powers to someone else. But this cannot happen. Francesca shows Billy the origin of Black Adam. Billy, seeing that this is the story of a kid, storms out to confront Black Adam, only to find out the kid didn’t make it.

Shazam transfers some of his powers to his friends to help him fight Black Adam and the Seven Deadly Sins. As the battle continues, Shazam is still overpowered and his friends return to normal. Instead, Shazam turns back into Billy and provokes Black Adam to do the same; he does and dies as his mortal form is centuries old.

With Black Adam gone, the Seven Sins flee from battle. Billy returns to his daily life and celebrates Christmas with his friends.

REVIEW

Geoff Johns had a terrible task at hand. He would need to give Shazam a “rebirth” treatment. A character that, while not broken, had a lengthy history of real-life legal drama. In this context, Geoff Johns had to create Shazam and the Shazam Family. I don’t need to tell you that these didn’t exist before (except for the Wizard Shazam).

For those coming late to the party, Shazam’s name was always Captain Marvel. After the legal battle that canceled Captain Marvel’s titles at Fawcett, National (DC) got the rights to the character (not at once, though). By the time Captain Marvel was brought back (the seventies), Marvel Comics got the trademark for Captain Marvel and made sure to create a character with that name (not Carol Danvers). There were also other attempts of using that name by other publishers.

So, from that moment on, DC wasn’t able to use the “Captain Marvel” name on the covers of this character. Instead they would use sentences around the name Shazam. The character in the interior would still be called Captain Marvel, and his extended family would keep their names as well.

But after Flashpoint, calling the character’s name was a golden opportunity. This would also change the names of his extended family. So this is why I am saying, the character is not the same... but at the same time, it is. It’s very similar to the golden age Flash and the silver age Flash. They were almost the same, but had different names.

When I started reading this, back in 2012, I was intrigued by the change in Billy Batson’s personality. This change makes sense, and it is part of his arc. When we start his story, he doesn’t trust anyone, he can only rely on himself. Within a year, he will learn to trust his family (and recognize that a family doesn’t have to be biologically linked to you). This is a very good approach to it, because Billy and all his other “siblings” are adopted from different families. The idea that you can create your own family if life doesn’t really give you one, is quite powerful here.

Billy and Freddy’s reaction to the powers are also amazing. You see a superhero having attitudes of a kid. Gary Frank is so good at this, it feels weird seeing Shazam act like Billy. Captain Marvel was always fantasy, always mild and good, and this adaptation brings reality to it, brings different personalities and points of view. While I don’t think Shazam/Capt Marvel needed this change... it is welcome.

Now, is this enough to establish the character? NO. Most of us readers still call him Captain Marvel, or Mary Marvel, or Captain Marvel Jr, or the Marvel Family. We need to get used to the change. And there was no follow up to this arc, for 5 years. Only brought back thanks to the movie. So my wish is that this movie succeeds at changing “Shazam”’s status quo, so we can start calling him by his new name.

I appreciate the tightness of the writing as well. Side characters are justified and the main character has a very acceptable trauma for his reality.

The only character that gets a bit lost by all the events is Sivana. He keeps repeating that only magic can save his family, but this is never explored (this was just the beginning, and I am guessing it will be explored in the new title).

And Gary Frank is a god here. This may not be the breath-taking experience that “Power of Shazam” was... but his Billy Batson is very distinguishable.

I give this story a score of 10

#shazam #captain marvel #dc comics #new 52 #post modern age #comics #review #2012 #2013 #black adam #sivana #justice league #gary frank #marvel family #shazam family

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kid-crashed · 7 years ago

Text

Catch Me If You Can (Part 1)

This is a DamiJon College AU based off of some fantastic fanart by @une1st that you can find right here. Part 2 coming soon!

A shrill whistle rang over the practice field, easily being heard over the sound of rock music blasting from a set of speakers.

“Come on boys! Let me see that hustle!” The coach would have been easily identifiable, even without the booming voice. He was a giant man, easily six foot five, maybe more, with muscles straining against muted gray sweats. He was the only one standing on the sidelines, while the Metropolis City University football team practiced. “You best wake up and get your asses in gear or you’ll be running laps for the rest of the day!”

“Yes Coach!” The call came unanimously from the team as they worked through a series of warm up drills. Practice had only just started; earlier than normal, but they had their big Homecoming game tonight. This was their last chance to get a little extra training in.

The team finished their warm up, the coach stepping into the center of the field.

“Alright boy, take a knee.” The herd of college kids formed a semicircle around theman. His eyes surveyed his team before landing on one member in particular. “Kent. Get your butt up here.”

“Sir, yes sir.” The guy in question stood up from amongst the team with a cocky grin on his face: Jon Kent. At twenty years old, he wasn’t the youngest person to ever make team captain, but he was still only a junior; a fact which had originally left a bad taste in the mouths of some of the seniors. Still, no one could deny that he’d earned this title, captain was elected by majority vote after all. But it was early in the season. This was his first big game to prove himself in.

He was tall by most standards, short by football’s, at six foot one. But more importantly, he was built almost entirely of lean muscle. His shoulders were broad, half inherited from his father, half the result of doing farm work his whole life. Unlike a lot of the members of the team, who looked like they snorted protein powder and skipped leg day regularly, Jon’s muscle mass was evenly distributed, giving him a conventionally fit, and attractive build.

He wiped the sweat on his hairline with the sleeve of his practice jersey. A clip board was handed over to him. It contained notes about each player on their team, as well as on their opponents.

“Alright folks,” He cleared his throat. “As you know, we’re going against Gotham tonight. Coach Stone can’t be trusted to call the shots ‘cause it’s his alma mater, so I’ll be taking over instead.” There was some collective snickering amongst the team. It was a running joke to five their coach a hard time for having gone to their biggest rival school. “So, here’s how it’s going to go.”

Jon started listing off the positions for roughly half of the team, mostly upperclassmen who were guaranteed a little spotlight in the homecoming game. There was a promise to all the new freshies and returning sophomores that if they proved themselves during training, they could get a little action too.

“Alright boys.” Coach Stone piped back in once Jon was done. “Take five for water, then we’re back to it.”

The members of the team split off back to their bags. Jon had left his over on the one long metal bench that stood at the bottom of the hill leading that lead to the field. As he walked up to it, he was able to look around and notice the small crowd of people interspured all over the knoll.

It wasn’t uncommon for other MU students to sit around and watch various athletic teams work out below. It was a nice place to hang out; sunny, but with a few trees for shade, and easy walking distance to one dining hall, the main gym, two libraries, and some of the larger academic buildings.

Seeing all these other students out here brought a smile to his face. He liked feeling like he was part of a community.

“Yo Kent, think fast!”

Jon’s head snapped up just in time to see a football being launched right at his head. God dammit. He ran back a few steps, thanking every fiber of his body that his reaction time was pretty high quality. Jon was able to cover enough distance that rather than being smacked in the head, the ball slammed his right in the chest. Jon wrapped his hands around the ball, pulling it in and keeping it close with his forearms. Nice. Ball: Caught. Receive: Perfect… Except… As he let his body follow the momentum, Jon felt the back of his ankle knock against something, and he toppled backwards.

“And down I go.” The exclamation was involuntary as he hit the ground with a thud. His recovery period was quick. The man sat up just in time to see one of his teammates cackling at Jon’s expense. “What the hell Batson?”

“Sorry man.” That boy was not sorry. Billy had been a close friend of Jon’s for years, but he could be a bit of a joker. “Also, uh, sorry!”

Jon scrunched his eyebrows at the second apology, noting that it definitely wasn’t for him. That was about when Jon became aware of the weird lump under his leg.

A backpack.

Shit.

“I’m so sorry.” Jon scrambled to his feet, brushing any grass or dirt off his sweatpants. He was careful for the disrupt the bag anymore than he already had.

“You should be.” The lower register voice made Jon unintentionally wince -- Please don’t start a fight right now -- He look at the person belonging to the backpack.

A guy sat on top of jacket, as if he were using it as a picnic blanket of sorts. He wore a rather comfortable looking green sweater, despite it being a nice, seventy six degree day. As Jon’s eyes traced over the figure under the sweater, taking note of how naturally tanned the guy’s skin was, leading up to the mans face and -- Oh… Oh that was a death glare if he’d ever seen one.

It was then that Jon realized he was also stepping on something, well, somethings to be exact. He took a step back and kneeled to pick up an assortment of what he was pretty sure were charcoal pencils. “Um… here.” He handed them to the guy.

This guy stared at Jon for a moment before reaching out with one color-covered hand, palm out flat. Jon dropped the pencils in the hand, being careful not to get any of whatever that ink was on his own hands. He watched as the individual organized the charcoal next to a box of what looked like oil pastels. Well, that explained the color.

“Sorry again.” Jon felt kinda sheepish. “It won’t happen again. I’ll yell at the guy who threw the ball, and uh… yell at myself for falling.”

The fellow sighed. “I didn’t think I’d be in the way when I sat here.”

“You’re not! I promise this was a one time fluke.”

Hazel eyes seemed to study Jon’s face to see if he was really sincere or not. “I’ll take your word for it.” The man then picked up a sketch book that had been resting on the grass next to him, and leaned it carefully against his knees.

Suddenly, something clicked in Jon’s head. “Oh! You’re that dude who’s always drawing here!”

“Excuse me?” The guy rose an eyebrow, and for some reason Jon suddenly felt a bit flustered.

“No I mean,” He took a step back, trying to actually think before he spoke. “I just see you here a lot. Like, during practice I’ll look and and it’s like, boom, you’re there.”

The other male let out a sigh, turning his attention away from the moronic quarterback, and back to his artwork. “I suppose I’m here often.”

“You are.” Yeah that sounds about right Kent. Tell the guy exactly how often he’s here. That’s just a fantastic idea. “I mean, well, I notice that you are.” There was an awkward bit of silence, where this other student was probably just trying to ignore Jon’s presence on that hill. Rightfully so. He was definitely just bothering the guy. “So… Do you always draw the team?”

“No.” The answer was short and simple, but one glance upward must have allowed the man to see just how painfully curious Jon was. “Sometimes I draw what’s in front of me, sometimes I draw based on assignments, sometimes I just draw whatever comes to mind first.”

“That’s so cool.” He peaked over the edge of the sketchbook once more to get a look at the work in progress. “You’re really good.”

“Thank you.”

Jon was about to open his big mouth all over again, probably to make another dumb comment, when his coach’s voice suddenly boomed over the whole field. “Kent! Stop flirting and get back over here!”

“Yes Coach!” Jon called back over his shoulder. “Uh… I’ll catch you later?”

“Perhaps.” The artist shrugged. “Goodbye, Kent.”

For some reason, that just brought a grin to the junior’s face. “It’s Jon, actually. Kent’s my last name.”

“Alright then. Goodbye, Jon.”

“Can’t I get your name first?”

The man looked up from his work with a sigh, making eye contact with the football player once more. “Damian.”

Practice ended rather uneventfully, with the usual post-training pre-game huddle Coach Stone always made them do. Supposedly it boasted moral until the more official motivational speech in the locker room, but Jon didn’t know enough about psychology to say one way or another. The members of the team started branching off, each going back to their bags to collect their things and head out. As Jon was heading back to his own bag, he looked up and noticed that the artist from before was starting to pack up his things as well.

“Hey!” Jon ran over to Damian, before the other was fully packed up. “Wait a sec.”

Damian didn’t slow as he put placed a piece of wax paper between the pages in his sketchbook, and closed it. “What do you want?”

“Are you going to the game tonight?” Jon awkwardly adjusted the strap of his gym bag over his shoulder.

Damian looked him over, then, he carefully put the sketchbook in his messenger bag. “I doubt it.”

There was a very good change that Jon looked like a kicked puppy. A pout grew on his face. Childish? Maybe. But if it works, it works. “Why not?”

The art student shrugged. “I never purchased a ticket. Besides, I’m not so interested in sports events.”

“I can get you a ticket.” H flashed a grin. “And you could just come and draw or something?”

That got a puzzled look in response. “You want me to come to your game, and not watch it?”

The quarterback shifted, rocking back onto his heels, then to his toes. “Why not? Can’t a guy want to see a pretty face in the crowd?” He studied the expression on Damian’s face, noticing the change from confusion, to what he dared to call fluster.

“How--” Damian coughed into his hand. “How will I get the ticket?”

The smile on Jon’s face would have split his head in two. “I’ll leave it at Will Call for you.”

84 notes · View notes

itsybitsybatsyspider · 7 years ago

Text

Stars and Rooftops

Summary: Billy gets a new foster sibling, but she doesn’t want to stay. Or at least that’s what she keeps telling herself.

Warnings: Maybe some cursing, i don’t remember honestly.

Notes: for now, this is a oneshot, unless i want to add a chapter or two more.

Word Count: 4.9k ( and i wrote this in a DAY!! Woohoo!!)

ENJOY!!

Billy had seen a hell of a lot of weird things since becoming the Champion of the wizard, Shazam. Aliens falling from the sky and invading Earth, men running faster than the speed of sound, mermaids, (even though Victor kept insisting that they were Atlanteans), and dudes dressed up as bats, to list a few. But he had to admit, this took the cake. By far. It all started with Billy saving people from their burning building. I know, that’s pretty cliche, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

So here he was, speeding in and out of the building trying to grab as many people as he could. The flames licking the sides of the building, turning a nice, rich brown into a smoldering black. He had just gotten the last of everyone out the door when the second floor collapsed in on itself, caving the whole thing.

Billy let out a sigh of relief. That was close.

The tenants of the former building, stood by in shock, looking at the remnants of their home. Although a few came out of their stupor and came over to thank the local hero, who blushed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“It was nothing. I would have done it even if i didn’t have superpowers.” He admitted to the crowd. A few of them chuckled in response to the hero’s comment and a came forward and shook his hand or gave him a quick hug. Billy didn’t want to leave them till the paramedics came, but sadly, he was late for dinner and he couldn’t stay any longer than he had. He waved goodbye to the citizens of Fawcett as his feet slowly left the ground and he was soon in the clear blue autumn skies.

Billy smiled in delight as the cold wind brushed his face and tugged at his cape. Oh how he loved flying. He believed it was the best feeling in the entire world and that nothing would ever live up to it. The bright sky above him, the sun just starting to set casting golden rays everywhere and freezing air around him was amazing. To say the least. But sadly, his flight ended shortly.

Billy touched down a block or two from the Vasquez’s house and made sure nobody was around him when he said the magic word.

“SHAZAM!”

And just like that, Fawcett City’s brave, red clad hero turned into thirteen year old Billy Batson. The magic lightening struck down and left smoke billowing through the air and little bits of electricity spasming around Billy. The boy just shrugged it off, picked up the backpack he had casted aside, and walked onto the sidewalk, acting as if nothing had happened. Anothing thing that happened to Billy since becoming the Champion, is he became more exposed to magic and it’s quirks. Like there were a few days when he would see magical creatures walking through Fawcett and nobody would even bat an eye at it, and he would laugh at how absurd it looked. There was one time when he saw a satyr buying a hotdog off of a hotdog vendor and asking for mustard, a eudaemon sitting in a bookstore sipping a cup of coffee, and even a policeman riding a unicorn. It was funny to see to say the least. And not only could he see magical creatures, but he could sense things about people. It wasn’t very noticeable, it was like heightened intuition more than anything, but it sure did come in handy when Billy got into less than preferred situations.

He had just walked up to his most recent foster home, when his gut clenched all of a sudden. There was that sixth sense again, saying that there was something off inside. Billy tensed and prepared to say the word if he needed to before he reached for the door handle and turned it.

He walked inside, calling out the usual “I’m home!” and was met with Mrs. Vasquez’s cheerful voice.

“Oh, you’re home! Good! Billy, why don’t you come into the living room and come meet our guest?”

Still wary, Billy set down his backpack and walked into the living room to see Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez sitting next to a woman in a suit and a young girl about his age looking at him strangely. The woman was in a neat black pantsuit and her hair was up in a bun and a badge clipped to her blazer. A social worker. Billy felt a rock form in his stomach. This couldn’t be good.

Meanwhile the girl just kept looking at him, as if she was trying to decipher something; she wasn’t as clean looking as the social worker, with a ratty blue sweatshirt, dirt covered red shorts, and a beanie with holes in it. Billy knew the look well. This girl was just on the streets. The boy sighed and let his shoulders sag, she had probably gotten sucked into the foster system just as he had, and the social worker was here to drop her off until they found her files or a new home to go to.

“Billy, I’d like you to meet Danielle. She’ll be staying here for a few days until Ms. Turner can find her a proper home.”

Billy smirked inwardly. ‘Called it.’ he thought.

“Dani.” the girl said. The adults in the room looked at the said girl in shock. “Sorry, what?” The social worker asked. Dani turned her gaze away from Billy and looked at Ms. Turner directly. Billy assumed that this was the first time she had spoken in a while.

“My name’s Dani. With an “i”. Not Danielle.” that said she turned her attention back to Billy. It was starting to make him uncomfortable.

“Okaaayyy. This is Dani. Billy do you wanna say something?”

“No, not really.” he said shrugging.

“Billy.” Mrs. Vasquez lightly scolded. Dani let a smirk escape her lips.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have homework to do.” the boy said as he grabbed his backpack and headed for the stairs.

Dani turned her attention to the Vasquez’s and spoke, “I like him.”

Dani was disappointed in herself. How could she have gotten caught so easily! It was an embarrassment to her ghost status and stealth abilities, and it all started with her dining and dashing. Long story short, she started to get really hungry after five days of eating nothing, and being half ghost burned lots of calories. So what was the harm in her eating a little bit and then turning invisible and leave. Except she didn’t eat a little bit. And she didn’t turn invisible. After that whole buffet she ate, the manager of the diner started pestering her about the bill and she knew she couldn’t turn invisible with witnesses. Then the manager grabbed her, called the police, and everything became a blue after that. Then before she knew it, she was sitting on a nice couch in the Vasquez residence with a damn social worker of all people discussing housing and what they were gonna do with her. She never even got a chance to slip away, and had settled for glaring out the window, watching the cars go by. It was all pretty boring until Dani got a tingly feeling down her spine, like electricity, and a breath of gold escaped her mouth. She clamped her mouth shut and glanced at the adults in the room. Luckily nobody noticed. And then the front door opened and in came the boy who she’d be living with.

“Billy! Why don’t you come into the living room and meet our new guest?” Mrs. Vasquez said. Dani scoffed internally at the sound of her being a guest when the boy, Billy, entered the room. He looked pretty similar to her, with black hair and blue eyes, but that’s where the similarities ended. He sported a red hoodie and a football jersey underneath it and blue jeans with red sneakers.

And once Dani saw him, she had this weird sense about him, like there was more to him than what meets the eye. As if he was more powerful than he was letting on. And she knew this because it was the exact same thing she and Danny did all the time.

The adults and their talking just became white noise to her as she kept looking at the boy, trying to figure out what made him so special. She heard the social worker, Ms. Turner, call her “Danielle”, and she had to speak up and correct her. The only person who called her “Danielle” was Vlad, and she wanted nothing to do with him or anything related to that monster.

She realized that that was the first time she spoke since the police station.

“Okaaayyy. Billy do you wanna say anything?”

“No, not really.” the boy said nonchalantly.

“Billy.” Mrs. Vasquez scolded. Dani smirked. Billy then said something about doing homework, and he took his bag and went upstairs.

“I like him.” She said.

Dinner that night was mac and cheese. It was Darla’s turn to choose dinner and she thought that mac and cheese would be a good idea since it was one of the Vasquez’s best dishes. So here was Billy and Freddy, setting the table while Darla and Mr. Vasquez worked on the cheesy pasta, and Mrs. Vasquez was upstairs trying to help Dani find something else to wear since her current clothes were practically dirt and rags.

“Dinner’s ready!” Darla announced proudly, placing the mac and cheese on the table, displaying the gooey dish with a flourish of her hand. Freddy smiled at her enthusiasm and Billy smirked at her antics. No matter how grumpy Billy was with everyone, he could never be grumpy with Darla. She was just like a pure ray of sunshine that could never be tainted, and even though Billy would never admit it, he would do anything to protect her. She was like a sister to him just as much as Freddy was a brother to him. But he’d never tell anyone, not even Victor, he had a reputation to uphold.

Footsteps thudded down the stairs and Dani appeared, her hair damp from a shower and wearing fresh clothes. There was a big grin on her face and Billy wondered just how long she had worn those old clothes. She had a white crop sweatshirt that said “LEGEND” and a pair of new jeans on.

“What’s for dinner? I’m starving!” Dani asked.

“Mac and cheese!” Freddy said.

“Yes! I love mac and cheese!”

“Well then you’re gonna love this. Mr. Vasquez makes the BEST mac and cheese in the whole world. Trust me.”

“Nice. And I’m sorry but i don’t think i got your name.”

“Oh right, I’m Freddy. Nice to meet you.” he said sticking out his hand to Dani for her to shake.

“Likewise.” she said taking his hand.

“And I’m Darla!” the cocoa-skinned girl said.

“Good to meet you Darla.”

“And you’ve already met Billy. He’s the broody one out of all of us.” Freddy said in a stage whisper.

“I’m not broody!” Billy protested. Darla nodded her head behind him. Dani smiled.

“Alright kids, sit down. It’s time to eat.” Mr. Vasquez said. Mrs. Vasquez, Freddy, Darla, and Billy all sat down in their respective places while Dani just stood awkwardly to the side. She had never done this before in the year she had been alive. She never did it with Danny’s family, with Vlad, and she’d been way too busy traveling the world that she never had the chance to actually try something like this.

“C’mon Dani. Sit next to Billy.” Darla said.

Dani rubbed the back of her neck and shuffled over to the empty seat next to Billy. He gave her a strange look. Dani was just about to reach for the serving spoon, when everyone at the table took each other’s hands. Billy offered his hand to her, which she was tentative to take, and Mrs. Vasquez, who was next to her, took her other hand.

“Dear Lord,” Mr. Vasquez started, “Thank you for this wonderful day and bringing Dani to us, and bless this food to our bodies. Amen.”

“Amen.” everyone else chorused after him. Dani stayed silent and looked at everybody funny as they each took turns filling up their plates.

“So, Dani,” Mr. Vasquez began, “Where were you before you came here?”

“Uhm, I was, in uh,” She stammered. Struggling to come up with a believable lie. Cause she couldn’t just say that she spent the past two weeks flying around France.

“Central. Central City.”

Mr. Vasquez’s eyebrows rose. “Wow, you’re sure a far ways from there then.”

‘Is that far?’ Dani wondered. Distance just became a word to her after a while.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Woah! Cool! Does that mean you saw the Flash?” Darla asked innocently. Dani shrugged as it was her turn to dish up her plate. The name sounded familiar to her, but she wasn’t sure why.

“Uhm, no I didn’t. Sorry.”

Darla seemed to deflate a little, but it didn’t last long.

“Where else have you been?” Freddy asked.

“All over.” Dani said. “Kind of hard to keep track of everywhere I’ve been.”

Freddy nodded, accepting the answer.

“Have you ever seen a superhero?” Billy asked. Dani smirked at the question. If only he knew how ironic that question was.

“Oh yeah, i’ve definitely seen my share of superheroes. One even saved my life.” She said before she could shut her big mouth.

Suddenly Darla and Freddy were asking question after question, wanting to know every detail about her rescue; Dani couldn’t even get a word in. Meanwhile, Billy stayed silent the entire time. Did he rescue her? He couldn’t remember everybody he saved, but he racked his brain trying to remember if he did or not.

“Freddy! Darla!” Mrs. Vasquez shouted. Effectively shutting them up. “If Dani doesn’t want to talk about it, then don’t ask.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry, Dani.” they both said. Dani smiled sadly.

“It’s okay. You each get one question about it though. I won’t leave you hanging.” The foster siblings brightened up and Darla was the first to ask her question.

“Who saved you?”

Billy held his breath and Dani kept smiling sadly. “It was a small town hero, I doubt you guys have even heard of him, but he goes by Phantom. He was the one to save my life.” Darla’s face said it all. Even Billy was confused. He’d never heard of a hero named Phantom before, and he was on the Justice League. Wasn’t it kind of his job to learn more about other superhuman/alien beings? He’ll have to ask Victor to research him later.

“What did he save you from?” Freddy asked.

Dani fell silent. She couldn’t tell them the truth. What was she supposed to say? ‘Oh i was destabilizing and turning into a pile of goo in the basement of a psychopath and he sprayed me with some magical Febreeze and saved my life. Crazy right?’

“Uhhhmm, I’d rather not say.”

“Oh okay. Then, what can he do? What are his powers?”

Dani smiled. “Well, he can fly, turn invisible, walk through walls, and he has these cool lasers called ecto-blasts. He shoots them out of his hands and eyes. It’s pretty cool!”

“He sounds awesome!”

“Yeah, he’s super cool!”

“So he’s like a mix of Martian Manhunter and Superman?”

A flicker of confusion flashed across Dani’s face. “Uh, I guess? To be honest, i don’t pay a whole of a lot attention to the Justice League. I do like Batman though. He seems awesome. Also Wonder Woman.”

Darla got a look on her face that Dani didn’t know how to interpret, before she asked. “What do you think of Shazam?”

Billy tensed up and sent a glare at Darla.

“Who?”

Freddy choked on his water. The table was silent.

“You’re kidding right?” He said after regaining his bearings.

“You don’t know who Shazam is?” Mrs. Vasquez asked, a bit baffled, which confused Dani.

“No. Sorry. Who is he?”

At the question Billy, glanced down at his plate and started playing with his food absentmindedly. He hadn’t said a word the whole dinner and by now, he decided he wasn’t going to.

“Shazam is Fawcett City’s superhero. I’m sure you’ve seen him around while you were here. He always makes an appearance at least once a day.” Freddy said. He glanced at Billy quickly before turning back to Dani. “Maybe you just need to see a picture of him. Hold on, I’ll pull up a picture of him real quick”

Mr. Vasquez held up a finger. “Uh. Nuh uh. No phone’s at the table. You know the rules Freddy. Put it away.” He said curtly. Freddy deflated, pocketing the phone and turning back to his plate of pasta. “You can show her later. Now Billy, Freddy, Darla, how was school today. Learn anything new?”

“Sorry Billy.” Freddy whispered to his foster brother after dinner was finished. Said boy shrugged.

“It’s okay Freddy. Don’t apologize.” They arrived at their shared bedroom and Freddy closed the door behind them.

“I’m gonna go do my ‘homework’. Billy said as he opened up the window and took off it’s screen.

“Okay, have fun and tell Victor ‘Hi’ for me, and don’t die. Also, make sure you’re farther away from the house this time. Last night you were sloppy. I could hear you say ‘Shazam.’”

Billy nodded and gave Freddy a salute. “Will do.” he crept out of the window and jumped off of the roof onto the grass. Jogging away from the house until he was sure nobody he knew would hear him, he shouted the name of the wizard and flew off into the night.

“So, you’re saying that this chick, who has met superheroes before, has absolutely no idea who Shazam is?” Victor asked as he tossed Billy a football. Monitor duty was boring as ever, so of course Billy had nagged Victor into tossing a football with him.

“Yeah! Ugh, it made dinner so awkward! Like, how can she not have heard about me? I’m one of the Justice League!”

He tossed the ball back to Victor.

“Well maybe she’s been a bit too busy to research superheroes. You said that she traveled a lot. Maybe she just didn’t have the time. Not to mention she was also on the street. So cut her some slack.”

The ball flew through the air again.

“Yeah, I know. You’re right.”

They continued to throw the ball back and forth between them, making light conversation, until a rapid beeping came from the computer and they had to put the football down.

“Ready to do some superheroing?” Billy said with a cheesy grin on his face as his feet rose from the ground.

“I don’t even think that’s an actual word.”

Dani had to admit, this had been a good day. It started off terrible, with her getting caught by the police and getting placed in a home by a social worker, but in the end it was good. She got to have a home cooked meal, a place to sleep, fresh clothes, a full stomach, a hot shower, and a chance to actually live in a home. It was something she never got a chance to try. Which is why what she was about to do that much harder. She watched the digital clock next to her bed tick till one in the morning, before she sat up, cringing at the rustling of the sheets. She glanced at the bed next to her, where Darla slept, and released breath of relief when she saw she didn’t wake up.

Tapping into her core, Dani began to float from her bed. She threw off the sheets and began to drift toward the door. She wasn’t going to leave without food and water and some clean clothes. She hated having to do this, but she knew she had to. There weren’t any records of her anywhere, so when the social worker came back in a day or two with all these questions Dani couldn’t answer…

Well, it just wouldn’t end well.

She had found an empty backpack and had begun packing it with dry snacks and water bottles. Dani thought about taking some money, but she decided against it. Knowing that the family needed it more than she did. Once she was finished packing and had stuffed her pajamas in the bag, wearing the crop sweatshirt and jeans again, she crept over to her and Darla’s bedroom and floated through the door and wall onto the roof. Turning tangible, she landed on the roof and shrugged the backpack onto her shoulders. She glanced at the house one last time before turning around and walking to the edge of the roof.

But when she turned around, she gasped. Dani didn’t even think about it at the time, but the Vasquez’s house was far away from the city, so that when night came, there was both hundreds of stars out and there was the glittering skyline. This is what Dani saw. The stars twinkling in the sky and the city shimmering in all of its lights. It was two of Dani’s favorite things at one time.

‘Well, what’s the rush? As long as I’m gone before morning, everything will be fine.’ the ghost girl thought.

A wry grin on her face, Dani when over to the edge and sat down. Her legs swinging back and forth as she gazed at the stars in the sky and the stars on Earth.

‘Well, since I’m out here, I might as well have one of the snacks I packed.’ she thought to herself; knowing full well that she was just coming up with excuses to stay longer at the foster home.

Dani pulled out a granola bar and started munching on it while the stars shined and the breeze wrapped around her. And since it was hours before the sun rose, Dani had no fear of someone spotting her sitting up on the roof, stargazing. Or at least she thought. A tingle of electricity ran down her spine and her ghost sense went off. Instead it was gold instead of the normal blue.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked behind her.

Dani yelped in surprise and dropped her granola bar as she whipped around to see who had spoken. And to her surprise, it wasn’t a normal person. Nope. It was man clad in a red and gold suit with a lightning bolt on his chest and a white cape billowing behind him as he floated high above the ground. The cape had a hood on it, which was pulled over the stranger’s face, hiding his features from Dani’s view and making her feel uneasy. But this wasn’t the strangest thing to happen to Dani. She had half expected for him to start attacking her already, but when he didn’t it confused the ghost girl.

“Sorry?” she asked.

“What are you doing up here? It’s not safe standing on roofs when there’s no one to look out for you.” the mysterious man stated. Dani scoffed.

“Yeah, well I can take care of myself. Don’t need a man in a costume and cape to come to my rescue.”

The man crossed his arms and Dani felt like he was glaring at her.

“So who are you? Don’t think i’ve heard of you before.” she said to him. Hoping to keep things light.

“The name’s Shazam. And you are?”

It all clicked into place for Dani now, and a understanding smile made its way onto her face.

“Ooooohh okay. That all makes sense now. You’re Fawcett City’s own personal hero, right? Yeah, I’ve heard some good stuff about you. Probably should’ve figured it out already, but you know. They don’t call me “clueless” for nothing.” Dani knew that last part wasn’t true, but she was cloned from someone who was clueless, so it made sense that she got the misfortune of getting that quality from Danny as well.

“Who calls you “clueless”?” Shazam asked as he touched down on the roof.

“Oh you know, people.”

The superhero sat down next to her and she could feel him looking at her funny.

“What?” she asked.

“You seem much too chill to be talking to a superhero right now.” he said. Dani laughed.

“Oh man, if only you knew!”

“Well I’m just saying,” Shazam threw his hood down, revealing neat jet black hair and familiar baby blue eyes. “Not everyone is as chill as you are when having a conversation with a superpowered human being.”

Dani stopped laughing and looked at Shazam. He seemed familiar to her, but she didn’t know why he did. They had only just met. Hadn’t they?

“Yeah, you’re right. Not everyone is chill when talking to a superhero. But then again there are the exceptions.”

“You mean you?”

Dani shrugged and Shazam sighed. “You know you still didn’t tell me what you’re doing up here.” He said to her.

“Can’t a girl just sit and stargaze on her roof?”

“With a bag full of food and water and fully dressed? No. I don’t think so. That sounds like running away to me.”

Dani huffed and turned to the bag. It clearly looked like she was running away, which she was. She wasn’t even going to deny it.

“Yeah, I was.” This got the hero’s attention.

“Why? Do you not like it here? Was dinner too awkward?” He asked all of a sudden. Dani glanced up the red clad hero and looked at him funny. He seemed to realize what he had said, seeing as how he had instantly shut up. Then it began to make sense. Dinner… the gold ghost sense… the familiarity of a superhero she had never met before…

She had to admit, it was a good disguise. Even for her. Dani smiled and turned back to her bag and pulled out another granola bar and offered it to Shazam. A night of hero work was always exhausting, especially for a kid her age.

He glanced down at the bar and took it gingerly from her hand. “Thanks.” he mumbled.

“No problem. And no, dinner wasn’t awkward. In fact it was fun. I’ve never had a home cooked meal before. Or sat down at a table with a family. Or said Grace. Or even talked about my day.” Dani glanced down at the ground far below her, and she knew that it would be a good memory for her to keep.

“What? Are you serious?” Shazam said in shock. The girl nodded and turned her attention back to the sky.

“You’ve never had any of that before?”

“Nope. But it’s okay, my life isn’t absolutely terrible and miserable. Although I do wish i can do this every night. It’d be nice.”

“So why not?”

Dani stayed silent, not answering the hero’s answer, and just gazed at the city lights.

“Because I can’t.”

There was a finality in her voice, that let Shazam know that she was serious and that nothing would change her mind. But he had to try, didn’t he? To convince her to stay?

“Well, as cryptic as that sounds, I’m sure the people living here won’t mind having you around. Living in a home full of people who care about you isn’t all that bad. And trust me, I would know.”

A knowing smile graced on Dani’s face and Shazam noted that she smiled a lot, although they were all different from each other and meant different things.

“I believe you. But it’s not a matter of whether or not I want to stay, but that I can’t. If I do, something bad will happen, and I don’t want that. These people don’t deserve that. They’re a good family and I don’t know if even I deserve to be blessed with them. It’s just all a mess.” She admitted to the hero before her. He looked at her with understanding in his eyes, but didn’t say a word. It was quiet between the two until the sky started to turn grey and the lights of the city began to turn off. Dawn was nearly here and neither of them had noticed the time fly by.

“Well,” Shazam started out, “I’m not saying you shouldn’t stay. But i think you should give these people another chance. I know it’s not them and it’s you and all of that cliche stuff, but trust me on this. They are willing to do anything to help you and they care. They care a lot. It’s not some act they put. It’ll be worth while i can promise that. And hey, you’ll get to live with a family more. More dinners, more domestic small talk, more home cooked meals, mo-”

“More showers, more clean clothes, more love, more chances... “ Dani finished. She glanced at the backpack once again and then at the rising sun.

“And hey, if it doesn’t work out. You can always run away another day.” Shazam said lightly. Dani breathed a laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe I can stay a few more days. Till the social worker comes back anyway. Sound good to you?”

“Yeah.” Shazam said. He didn’t notice the vague slip up he did, but Dani did, and she smiled.

“Right then. Should probably head back inside and unpack before everyone wakes up and notices.”

“Yep, totally.”

“And by the way? Thanks, Billy.”

Billy hummed. “You’re welcome.”

…

“Wait.”

#shazam #danny phantom #dani phantom #fanfiction #my fanfic #dont repost #billy batson #dani fenton #dc #freddy freeman #darla #dont remember #her last name

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