The light was growing bigger. He was certain of it. He had walked for what felt like days, but he knew that couldn't be true. He hadn't gotten hungry, or sleepy. His legs felt like lead, though. The thought of turning back never really crossed his mind. He had glanced over his should a time or two, but there wasn't anything to draw him that way. Behind him it was truly dark instead of the shadowy weirdlight that beckoned him forward. And whenever he thought to stop, that voice called out to him, louder and clearer, almost encouraging now instead of commanding. He had to reach it. He had come this far and would follow this to the end.
The light flickered like flames as he drew near. When he finally caught sight of the dual torches, flanking an arch of ancient stone, he nearly laughed in relief at the pop and hiss of flame, the first sound besides that echoing, beckoning voice and the sound of his own breath in longer than he could seem to remember.
"Well done, child. Come forth." The man stood heavily on a staff, but looked like he was once powerfully built. Billy stepped closer to him, unsure why he was intimidated by this ancient looking man. This hunched senior seemed larger to Billy than anyone he had ever seen, despite being only a little taller than Freddy. He walked closer while Billy stood stock still, muttering to himself and peering intently at him. "Yes. Yes, I think he has chosen well. You will make a fine champion."
He turned around, walking towards a throne built out of the stone of the earth, less constructed than formed. Billy started, rapt attention broken as he locked onto the word "Champion". "Wait, what champion? And who are you? How did you bring me here?"
"Silence, child. All will be explained in time." He sat down heavily on the chair, sighing with relief. "I am, as you would say, a wizard, and you are to be a champion. I call you mine, but in truth you will be the champion of all mankind. I have chosen you, and will grant you strength to bring battle to those that would consume the heart of man."
Billy's eyes went wide. It sounded like all his dreams come true. It sounded better than anything he could imagine. It had to be a trick. "What, so you just zap me with magic and I turn into Superman? Yeah, right. Nobody gives away something like that for free."
"You are correct, child. The cost is great. You would take on a burden enough to bow the backs of all of mankind. It would steal everything from you. But you would have strength enough to carry the burden. You would be an icon of good for all the world to see. You would be the best of all mortals."
There was fear in Billy's eyes as the wizard seemed to glow with an inner fire, but there was a ring of truth in the words. Billy thought on what he said. Oddly detached, the words didn't sound like threats or even warnings. Just facts. Just how the world was. If he chose it. Could he choose it? Could he do that?
"That's not… Why? Why me?"
"Because you have felt the kindness and cruelty of the world, and face it without despair. You have seen the ugliness that people try to conceal, and stand up for what is right, even when you hardly have the strength to stand on your own two feet." The wizard's voice dropped low and his head bowed. "You willingly bear burdens so that others might not. I have seen it in your heart, and I know it to be true. I have watched your trials, and your defeats. And I have chosen you."
"I'm just a kid. Why not choose someone else? Someone bigger? If you're gonna turn me into Superman, why not just ask Superman?"
"Kal-El is a good man, and he would be worthy, but for one thing. He has never known powerlessness. He has always been, and will always be, what he is. He does a service to the world, but only the power of the gods will be needed in the coming trials, and power like this can corrupt even the best of men. I know this to be true."
Billy shook his head rapidly. "I don't want to be corrupted. If Superman or the rest of the Justice League couldn't handle that kind of power I for sure can't."
"It is because you are afraid of doing evil with the power that you can be trusted with it. But still, you would continue the life you live. It bounds you to the your true self. Others have fallen victim to the lure of power, but this power is only meant to be a tool of good deeds. And I believe you would do good in the world." With his voice rising, and his eyes crackling with power, he asked, "Billy Batson. I offer you the power of the gods. You must choose to bear this weight. To hold back the unending tide. But you must choose it. Will you take the burden, and the power to bear it?"
Billy asked himself, clear headed and more relaxed than he would have expected, whether he would be willing to fight evil like the Wizard was asking him to. "I would." He realized he had spoken aloud, but it was true. If he were offered the choice to fight evil, to be a hero, he would take it. And here he was, being offered a chance. "I would." He repeated, stronger now. "I will be the champion."
The wizard's beard disguised his smile, but his eyes were kind instead of stern. "Yes. You will do. We have chosen you well, young man. Your heart holds the good of man in it." His voice rose in volume, louder and louder. "Now you will hold the power of gods as well. Speak my name. Shout it with the will to act. Say the name SHAZAM!"
Heart pounding, Billy gathered his courage and called out the word, and as it left his mouth, the wizard slammed his staff into the ground, and a great bolt of lightning leapt from it and struck BIlly Batson in the center of his chest, filling him with energy and crackling upwards into the high, high ceilings of the cave and redoubling as if fell back into him.
When the smoke cleared, the child Billy Batson was gone. In his place stood a man that could have stepped out of a storybook. He stood, lightning spilling off of him, filling him with more strength than he could have ever imagined. "This is… incredible."
"Believe it, Champion. You have embraced the power of the gods. You are the champion. You are SHAZAM."
"But aren't you Shazam?"
A gesture of the staff and a chair rose out of the ground like the stone throne that the wizard seated himself back on. "I was. Now I am only the Wizard. Now sit, and listen to a tale of the gods."
