The New Justice League: The Trials Of Shazam
Chapter 3: Billy Batson & The Magic Of Shazam
A/N: WARNING: Brief mentions of torture, disembodiment and implied sexual assault/rape of a minor. There is nothing graphic but please be aware of triggers.
"Death?" Martian Manhunter looked surprised. "Isn't that a little bit extreme?"
"Not at all," Wonder Woman shook her head. "Stealing magical powers is a very serious offense. If he had stolen from my father Zeus then he would have been sentenced to an eternity of torment and misery so, really, he's getting off pretty easy."
"You would think that," Batman sighed.
"Now, now," a deep voice chided as a ferocious looking orange tiger came from behind the throne. "While it is true that the boy did commit these horrendous crimes the true reason he is on trial is to determine whether or not he is worthy to wield his stolen powers." The tiger was massive and stood almost as tall as the throne. Two horns rose from his back with another one on the back of each of his hind legs. Golden armor adorned his tail and hind legs while a collar and horned headdress completed the look. He let out a loud yawn then curled up at the Wizard's feet.
"This is Tawny, my animal avatar and my oldest companion," Mamaragan explained, giving the tiger an affectionate smile.
Flash groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I hate magic," he said to no one in particular.
"Silence!" Mamaragan slammed his staff on the ground. "This trial will start now."
It had been warm inside of his pod; Billy remembered that much. The lack of clothes hadn't bothered him then nor had the cruel gazes of Amanda Waller and Dr. Sivana as they discussed his progress. He had no knowledge of these people yet something deep inside him warned him to be wary-that they would hurt him. He needed to be cautious of Lex Luthor and his assistant but they did not actively try to cause him harm. He longed to be free of his pod, to see what was beyond the laboratory he was trapped in. However, once his wish had been granted, Billy found that the pod he had once considered a prison was a safe haven compared to the lab and other rooms in the compound.
Dr. Sivana would cut him open to see if his internal organs were different from other people and whether or not he had a healing factor (he didn't). Mr. Luthor's assistant, Mercy Graves, trained him in hand-to-hand combat and how to use many different kinds of weapons. She would occasionally slip him little treats such as chocolate and bubble gum when he had done exceptionally well. Mr. Luthor rarely spoke to him but when he did it was with kind words and a kind voice.
Amanda Waller though…he was beyond terrified of her. Her smile was cruel and she took great pleasure in watching Billy suffer. She often took part in his torture sessions and smirked whenever he was stripped down and hosed off. She came to his cell sometimes and taught him a weird game that he didn't really understand. It made him feel weird and she would let everyone watch. Colonel Rick Flag, Jr. refused to watch and he had a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Luthor was unaware of it.
One day Amanda Waller took him to a room remarkably similar to his cell. "There are no power inhibitors in here," she informed him. "Do you see those men in the corner over there?"
"Yes, ma'am," Billy looked uneasily at the men. They were all muscular with multiple tattoos and mean looks on their faces.
"I want you to kill them."
Aghast, Billy whirled around to look up at her. "I won't kill them-I won't!"
"Are you done?" Amanda Waller sounded bored. "If you don't then they will hurt you. You'll feel pain worse than anything we've ever done to you."
Looking at her satisfied smirk Billy didn't doubt it. Whatever was going to happen to him was going to be beyond horrific but he refused to kill them. Superman would never kill them neither would Batman. If he ever wanted to truly be a hero then he had to draw the line somewhere. No matter how much Amanda Waller and Dr. Sivana tried to sway him he would just have to stand his ground.
"Come on," she grabbed his arm and roughly hauled him into the room. "You may do whatever you want to him but I would like him to still be breathing when you're through. Is that clear?"
"Whatever you say, lady," the man didn't even bother looking at her as she left the room, his gaze locked on Billy.
Billy swallowed nervously when he heard the sound of the door locking behind her, leaving him alone with the strangers. The man who had spoken stood up and walked across the room until he stood in front of Billy.
"Well," his grin was lecherous and fear began to work its way through Billy, "aren't you a cute little thing?"
Unbidden, tears sprang to his eyes and Billy whimpered.
The drive to Cadmus had proven to be uneventful. Mercy spent the time catching up on her emails and making some last minute changes to Lex's schedule for that weekend.
"Your meeting with Ted Kord tomorrow has been moved to twelve and is now a luncheon."
"Lovely," Lex sighed then frowned. "I thought I was meeting Oliver Queen for lunch tomorrow."
Mercy coughed. "You were but there was an explosion at his office building and they're still investigating it. Two mail room clerks and a secretary were killed. I went ahead and had the customary flowers and sympathy cards sent to the funeral home."
"Excellent," Lex nodded in approval. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Mercy."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, sir," she smiled at him regardless.
Upon their arrival, however, it soon became clear that something was very wrong. White faced personnel scuttled about as they tried to perform their duties with shaking hands.
"What's going on?" Mercy demanded of the person closest to her-an elderly janitor with the name 'Dudley' on his uniform.
"Amanda Waller had some men attack B-I mean the experiment," Dudley corrected himself at the last moment.
"Shit," Mercy cursed and broke into a run, Lex right behind her. It didn't take long for them to arrive at one of the experimentation rooms. Mercy shoved her way to the door, the crowd quickly parting once they realized just who had arrived.
"You need to calm down," Rick tried to block her way but she shoved past him until she could see through the two-way mirror. Billy was curled around himself in a corner, sobbing. Blood dripped from the walls and ceiling, forming large puddles on the floor. There were body parts everywhere and Mercy could feel bile rising in the back of her throat but she forced it down.
"What did you do?" she hissed; turning to Waller who stood there quite calmly as though she hadn't just witnessed a bloodbath.
"I merely put the experiment into a stressful situation to see how it would react. What good is a weapon that won't kill anyone?"
It took all of Mercy's self-control to not strangle the other woman and only Lex's hand on her upper arm kept her from saying something she shouldn't have. "One of these days, Waller, you're going to push the wrong person too far and they'll take you down. When that day comes I'm going to stand there and laugh my ass off."
Waller looked as though she wanted to say something but obviously thought better of it for she turned and headed back towards her office, Rick following.
It was later that afternoon, as they drove back to LexCorp, that Lex broached the subject. "You know," he said casually as he stared out the window. "I have a plan that will benefit not only us but Billy. Not to mention it will take Waller down a peg or two."
Mercy turned to look at him, her eyes bright and eager. "What did you have in mind?"
Less than a week later Mercy gave the codes to Billy's cell to Dudley along with a date and time. She had already begun preparations to try and erase all existence of Lex's involvement with Cadmus and called in favors from some very influential people. Soon Billy would be with the Justice League, Amanda Waller would hopefully be in jail and they would be free to pursue other projects.
"Stop it!" Billy was sobbing hysterically as J'onn tried to calm him down.
"So not cool," Flash glared at the Wizard.
"You went to way too far," Superman agreed. While he had been sickened by Billy's actions there were most definitely extenuating circumstances.
"That's more than enough," Tawny rose and walked over to Billy. "The child needs to rest-he's been through a lot after all."
"Very well," the Wizard sighed and waved his hand. Immediately Billy's eyes closed and he fell asleep. "When he re-awakens the trail will continue."
A/N: Sorry for the delay but we've been working a lot of overtime lately and I can only write so much on breaks and lunch. There are two more chapters left so please keep an eye out for the fourth one sometime next week.
