A/N: A meditation on the nature of Captain Marvel. To my loyal readers: Eh, what can I say. I'm a geek of diverse interests. To those readers who are fans of Captain Marvel: I don't know much about him (never was able to find the comics), but I loved the old cartoon when I was a kid, and I find the idea intriguing. If I get stuff wrong (names, personality, whatever) bear with me. This will probably be my only foray into this category.
I just started wondering how a kid that young dealt with a responsibility that big. Is it only his body that changes, or does his mind change a bit too? And how would he know if it did?
A Hero Divided
Or,
How I learned to stop worrying and love Multiple Personality Disorder
A young boy walked along an idyllic city's streets, lost in thoughts far too deep for his age.
He didn't know who he was anymore. He'd been changing too long.
At first it had been so great, the fulfillment of every kids daydream. Speak a magic word and become a superhero. And he'd revelled in it, a boy in the body of a super-human man. Yes, he'd fought crime, but it had really been only a game. After all, he could change back any time he wanted and go home. He loved hearing people talking about the new champion of Fawcett City - how strong and heroic he was, as well as being so humble he vanished immediately after the end of the crisis. He'd fought alongside the greatest heroes in the world- Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman- as an equal. He was a role model to his classmates, the kind hearted hero who always saved the day.
But then he noticed something weird. He began to think differently as Captain Marvel. At first it was just subtle, little things. Instead of thinking 'whats the coolest way I can beat this villain?' he would find himself thinking 'I better finish this quick before someone gets hurt'. And that was fine, a hero ShOULD be concerned about that. But then it started to leak into his 'real life'. When Billy Battson got home from school, he would think that he'd best do his homework immediately, or attend to his chores, rather than going to play for a while before work. The weird thing was, when he thought those things, his thoughts 'sounded' more like a grown man's than those of a child. Even uncle Dudley had noticed the boys 'new responsibility'.
Things had only gotten stranger when Captain Marvel junior had joined him. Captain Marvel Junior, or CMJ as he preferred, was his sidekick and it was only natural that he look out for him in battle. After all, the hero was responsible for the sidekick. That was probably part of the Code Of Heroism, between 'The Hero shall fight for justice' and 'The Hero shall wear tight clothing at all times, and yet display no obvious crotch bulge'.
But, even in their civilian lives Billy and Freddy Freeman (aka CMJ) had fallen into a similar mentor/protégé relationship. Whenever Freddy had a problem, he would talk it over with Billy, despite the fact that his 'mentor' was several years younger than he. And, until uncle Dudley had pointed this out neither one of them had thought it the least bit strange. A teenager would come to a prepubescent boy for advice about the SATs, and consider this to be perfectly normal. Heck, the guy even called him 'cap'n', as a nickname.
Once he'd noticed that, he'd noticed other changes in himself. For one thing, he couldn't just walk down the street anymore. Even now, he was checking the area for threats, adversaries, and dangers. When he went to play with kids his age (a rare thing with his schedule), a part of his mind kept saying things like 'this is childish' or 'this isnt how a hero behaves'. Games of tag and stickball no longer interested him, and he found himself instead thinking about past and future battles.
Freddy hadn't mentioned these changes, but Freddy was at an age when leaving 'chldish games' behind was normal and proper. For a nine-year old boy, it was beyond weird.
Billy had begun to feel unsettled by these changes. Was this part of his role as Shazam's champion? Was he slowly changing to fit what the wizard felt a champion should be? Was that the price for the wizards gifts? His childhood?
Maybe there was a more natural explanation. People were always saying that Billy was 'growing up too fast', or becoming a man. Maybe that's all this was. He was already working at the radio station, he was pretty much responsible for Freddy and Uncle Dudley, not to mention his responsibilities as Captain Marvel. All that responsibility was bound to change him a bit. He was just becoming a man a bit ahead of schedule that's all. Put like that, it was actually a welcome thing.
But a third possibility DID occur to him, usually at about 1 AM. Maybe he wasn't JUST Billy anymore. Maybe Captain Marvel was his own person, and was slowly taking him over. It seemed laughable in daylight, but at night billy remembered that his powers were magical in nature, and magic usually had a dark side hidden somewhere. Sometimes, on the darkest and most lonely nights, he wondered if he'd still be Billy in a years time. Or would he just be Captain Marvel?
He snapped out of his revery when his subconcious patrolling brought him to Fawcet City Hall. Smoke and flames billowed out of the windows. Even without superhuman senses he could hear people inside screaming. He grimaced, a feature that looked out of place on his young face, but was sadly all too common. Billy Battson or Captain Marvel, no one was dying while HE was around. He ducked into a nearby alley, and raised his face to the heavens.
"SHAZAM!!"
Lightning tore the clear blue sky. And, with the speed of mercury, Captain Marvel soared to the rescue. As he flew, he reflected that it wasn't important whether he was Billy Battson or Captain Marvel. He was a hero and that was all that really mattered.
End.