"The Magic Word"
Fawcett City
C.C. Beck Junior High School
March 15th, 08:00
"Good morning, everyone! Mrs. Fletcher unfortunately called in sick this morning, so I will be the substitute for this class. My name of course is Mr. Stanke…."
The white chalk screeched loudly as it dragged across the chalkboard to etch out the man's name.
Dressed in a loosely buttoned shirt and torn jeans, he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but in a public school.
Nevertheless, he turned around to face at least two dozen 5th Graders with facial expressions ranging from keen enthusiasm to sheer boredom.
"So, before we continue on with her instructions I'd like to go through attendance and see who cares about their education and who doesn't," he continued sardonically, picking up a clipboard before reading off the roster.
"Richard Harris?"
"Present, sir."
"Donny Jones?"
"President!"
"Funny. Bill Parker?"
"Here."
"Mary Bromfield."
"Here, sir!"
"Freddy Freeman."
"Here, I guess."
"William Batson?"
"...is Batson here?'
A sharp elbow jab into his shoulder brought Billy Batson back into reality, courtesy of his best friend and foster sibling.
Peeling his face off of his desk, the slightly groggy yet always gregarious boy slowly adjusted to his surroundings with the entire class now staring at him.
"Peanut butter?" he offered sleepily, completely unaware that this was roll call.
"I wish," the substitute grumbled under his breath, before continuing to list off names.
Pulling back his red hoodie, the boy ignored some snickers from behind from the usual culprits as his stupor eventually cleared.
Running a tired hand through his raven black locks, Billy squinted through his bright blue eyes to make out the man's scribbled out name on the board.
"Dude, you okay?" came a worried voice from his right.
Craning his head, he makes out the friendly and freckled face of Freddy Freeman.
Dressed in a Polo shirt with khakis, the blonde preteen waved his hand in front of Billy's sleepy expression.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Rough night, y'know?" he whispered back.
"Uncle Dudley make you watch the football game with him again?" Freddy groaned.
"Worse. I had to fight this giant worm," Batson confessed.
Freddy almost burst out laughing at that, so much so that he nearly knocked his metallic crutch down to the floor.
Settling down as Mr. Stanke continues to drone on, he rightfully pointed out, "Dude, you can fly and you had trouble squashing a little bug?"
"Right now, I wish I could fly out of this class," Batson muttered under his breath, checking to ensure that noone was listening before adding, "Look, this wasn't just any worm. It could like, read minds and stuff."
Freddy's eyes bulged open at that. "Read minds? Like in those old scary aliens movies that Uncle Dudley watches?"
"Yeah, but even scarier," he agreed, just as Mr. Stankle finished roll call.
"Alrighty, now that I can put names to all your beautiful faces let's get started. Now, your teacher has left specific instructions for today's lesson but I figured I'd put a little- wait for it, stank on it. Get it?" he grinned coyly, waiting with baited breath at the students.
No one laughed at his joke.
His smile quickly dissolved as the preteens continue to glare at him expectantly. "You know, 'cause my last name and uh...just forget it!"
Deflating with a sigh, he walked over to the teacher's desk grumbling about kids these days.
Opening up a textbook, he flipped to the highlighted page. "Alrighty then, let's go to page 286 in your books and finish up those unit discussion questions…"
Ding!
Filing through the double doors of C.C. Beck Middle, a growing sea of students spread out through the courtyard either towards their parents' cars or school buses.
Amidst the mass of prepubescent humanity exiting the educational institution in excited droves were Billy Batson and Freddy Freeman.
Leaning slightly on his forearm crutch while shouldering his backpack, Freddy limped along the sidewalk along with his dark-haired friend.
"Boy, I am tired," Freddy finally breathes out, the fatigue in his voice evident as he turns back to Batson. "Hey, so you wanna finish our game at the house? I still have the high score, just saying."
"Nah, I've got to make this meeting at the Watchtower," Batson sighs in response.
"You say that as if it isn't the coolest thing, like, ever!" Freddy almost gushed at him.
"I mean, it is but it kinda feels weird. Like, you know me, right?"
Freddy Freeman nods as Batson struggle a bit putting his thoughts into words.
"The Justice League just knows the guy I turn into, not the real me. And that's awesome, 'cause Wonder Woman is definitely checking me out. But, it's so boring when all they do is vote and talk about grown-up stuff," he explained to the still bewildered Freeman.
"You mean, grown-up stuff like saving the world?" Freeman pointed out. "Bro, I'm going to be honest with you. You can literally do anything Superman and those green guys can do."
"Except being taken seriously. Batman doesn't even assign me missions by myself 'cause I'm too 'inexperienced,' whatever that means," he bemoaned, emphasizing his frustration with air quotes.
"Dude's just jealous," his friend brushed off confidently.
Leaning against his crutch, a wistful look crossed Freddy's face as he remarked, "Hey, if I was half as strong as you I wouldn't even need this stupid thing. I'd be, like the coolest guy in school and wouldn't have to-"
"Well well, looky who we got here boys!"
The words in Freddy's mouth grew cold as the belligerent voice came from the parking lot next to them.
A rather stocky yet physically imposing boy with a buzz cut strutted up to them confidently, flanked by two of his buddies who shared a similar frame.
Sizing them both up dismissively, the ever smug Dash Down kept his smug composure as he stepped onto the sidewalk.
"Case in point," Freddy told Billy, who rolled his eyes.
"Look, boys. It's my favorite show: The Wimp and the Gimp!" Dash laughed out loud, his friends almost snorting and snickering on cue at his taunting words.
"Very funny, Dash! Did you spend all night coming up with that one?" Batson responded dryly.
Dash's smile was gone as soon as it appeared. "Watch your mouth, Batson. Or I'll watch it for you."
Undeterred by his threat, Batson nonetheless crossed his arms as Dash directed his bullish ire towards Freeman.
"So, I see you still walking your one-legged dog home. Tell me Batson, you ever get tired of picking up after this loser?"
"You ever get tired of being dumber than rocks?" Freddy shot back defiantly.
Snarling slightly, the bully took a threatening step forward, just as someone else entered the scene.
"Okay stop!"
The dainty yet determined Mary Bromwell, seemingly materializing out of nowhere, walked over to Freddy's side, eyeing the three bullies while placing a reassuring hand on her foster brother's shoulder.
Being the oldest of the three, she acted every bit of it as she stood between the antagonizing adolescent and her foster brother.
Dressed in a conservative red dress with matching heels, she flicked her brown hair back over her shoulder before addressing the bully, "Dash honey, don't you have to have to be stupid somewhere else?"
"You callin' me stupid?" he growled at her, fuming visibly.
"Um, yeah," she answered him candidly, before adding with a smirk, "Oh sorry, that might be a bit too advanced for your vocabulary so let me put this in a way you can understand."
Dramatically clearing her throat, Mary adopted a much more condescending tone. "You're just a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Or in your case, the whole restaurant."
Gritting his teeth together angrily, his cheeks streaked scarlet from her burning insult before a lightbulb went off in his head.
"At least, I'm smart enough to know that touching girls gives me cooties," he retorted knowingly, receiving approving nods from his friends.
"Right. Now, can you please leave?" she said impatiently, tapping her foot for emphasis.
Dash cast one last menacing glare at the three foster siblings before reluctantly stalking back towards the parking lot along with his friends.
"Well, that was easy," Mary remarked confidently.
"Just so you guys know, I was about to start kicking butt in a few seconds," Freddy blurted out sheepishly, only for Mary to playfully tussle up his hair.
"I'm sure you were, tough guy," she smiled at him, affectionately wrapping her arm around him.
"Yeah, you sure showed him, sis," Billy grinned as well, only for Mary to shrug.
"Hey, nobody messes with this guy but me. Besides, someone needed to take the Three Stooges down a peg," she smirked.
The three continued along the city sidewalk for a few more moments before a familiar red-and-blue blur suddenly flew over them.
Shooting through the air faster than a speeding bullet, it was gone before the three could fully identity it.
"Was that a bird?" Mary said, craning her head up as the blur shot to the left and disappeared behind a building.
"Nah, must've been a plane or something," Freddy told her, squinting his eyes.
Billy Batson's eyes shot wide open in pure amazement. "Guys, it's Superman!"
"Superman?" Slightly confused, Mary fixed him with a quizzical look. "I thought he lives in Metropolis. What's he doing here?"
Ignoring Mary's aloud pondering, an idea crossed Billy's mind. "Wait a sec, this is my chance! Guys, this is my chance!"
"It's a chance to raise your blood pressure if you don't calm down, dude," Freddy pointed out, a bit taken aback by Batson's sudden enthusiastic spurt.
Calming himself down, he explained to both of them, "Look, Superman's gotta be in Fawcett City for a reason, right? He probably got called here to take care of some bad guys. But what if the bad guy he's going up against, get this, is someone I've already beaten? Like, the Monster Society or that caveman dude."
Both Freddy and Mary exchanged apprehensive looks, not entirely convinced by the preteen's reasoning.
But Billy Batson was quick to reassure them. "I can't explain it but you just gotta trust me, alright? If I can do this, I can prove myself to Superman and the rest of the League. It's like, 100% foolproof."
"Yeah, except the bit where you don't know who, or most likely what you're going up against," Mary stressed.
His only response was to simply gaze hopefully in the direction that the Man of Steel had gone in.
"Today's the day," he declared, barely able to contain his excitement before speeding down the sidewalk.
"Tell Uncle Dudley I'm teaming up with Superman!" he called out over his shoulder, before disappearing into a nearby alleyway.
Mary still wore a worried frown, but Freddy feigned tearing up with a giant grin plastered across his face.
"They grow up so fast," he beamed proudly.
Sprinting within the narrow space of the alley, Billy Batson finally skidded to a halt as he neared the dead end.
Taking a moment to check behind him, the preteen planted himself firmly on the ground before closing his eyes in concentration.
With his intentions pure and good, Billy Batson shouted at to the heavens at the very top of his lungs, "SHAZAM!"
The heavens answered him back with a lightning bolt of mythical proportions that engulfed his entire boyish frame.
He remained still as the white light imbued him with all the powers and abilities necessary to become Earth's mightiest mortal.
A split second later, Captain Marvel opened his eyes.
In the place of the skinny Billy Batson now stood a physically imposing man with a Herculean physique from top to bottom.
Towering a few inches above six feet, well-defined muscles bulged impressively all along his torso and forearms.
Retaining the same facial features as his childish counterpart, he wore a champion's attire that was mainly bright red save for a golden thunderbolt logo proudly emblazoned across his chest.
Golden accents colored his wrists, boots, and collar, while also highlighting a predominantly white cape over his left shoulder.
Smiling from corner to corner with the essence of the entire Greek pantheon coursing through him, Captain Marvel eagerly cracked his neck before taking off into the air towards his moving destination.