Chapter 9

Viviane slowly fluttered in and out of consciousness, strafing that thin line between the dreamtime and the waking world. She struggled to make sense of which dimension she found herself in. The dreamtime was nice and comfortable, but a nagging feeling completely kept her out of that place. The waking world was full of pain when she jumped there, preferring the other dimension.

Finally, Viviane snapped out of her translucent dream and looked around her surroundings. She realized that she was in the Egyptian exhibit in a Fawcett Museum that was lit only by torchlight. Not only that, she found herself chained to a large stone tablet that was covered by Egyptian hieroglyphics. To top it off, Viviane noticed wires attached to her arms, legs, wings and head that ran down into one big wire that sat idly at the marble floor.

Viviane turned her head and saw Billy chained to a similar tablet about two feet to her right, covered in a similar set of wires. The boy was sleeping soundly with a white cloth gag covering his mouth.

"Billy! Wake up!" she yelled to him. Billy slowly opened his eyes and moaned.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. Billy mumbled something to her.

"What?" said asked. Billy sighed and nodded his head.

"Are you hurt?" she asked again. Billy nodded and popped his head to ask the same question to her.

"I'll be fine," she said "Only my ego is bruised…along with half of my body. Let me get you out of there." Said Viviane, as she closed her eyes and concentrated. She then quickly opened them quickly and said, "Something's wrong. I can't teleport out of here…or anything else for that matter."

Viviane struggled with her chains, but to no avail. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the familiar grin of Black Adam float into the room, carrying a large mechanical device that looked like some sort of ancient computer console. He set down the console next to an open sarcophagus and approached the duo.

"Awake are we? That is good. I want you to be witness to what I am about to do," he said.

"And what would that be?" asked Viviane.

"All in due time, girl. Why don't you stay silent like your friend over there?"

"That's because he has a gag in his mouth, you idiot!"

"Don't make me put one in yours." Black Adam picked up the two wires that connected both Viviane and Billy, connected them to the machine and then in turn, connected wires leading from the machine to the open sarcophagus.

"You have to give it up to Doctor Sivana. Despite his idiosyncrasies, he was a very brilliant man," said Black Adam, fiddling around with certain knobs and buttons on the machine "Of course, science was his god, but it did not mean he did not find a way to extract a person's life force from their body. This machine was invented specifically for that function. Of course, I needed to find a way to subdue you and keep you from counterattacking, and that's where those tablets come in."

Viviane looked towards Billy's stone tablet, unable to look at her own.

"It's an ancient magical nullifier, or rather a prototype magical nullifier. The way it works is that whoever is touching the tablet has his or her energies repressed within their own body, unable to tap into it. But, lucky for me, that's why I have this machine,"

"So you're going to suck away our energy, but what I'm trying to figure out is why!" said Viviane, her face turning into a snarl.

"Patience, girl. I've already said you will see soon enough. Last thing though," said Black Adam, as he took out a small knife "The blood offering,"

"What?" asked Viviane. Black Adam grabbed her arm, smiled and made a small cut on Viviane's arm, causing Viviane to whimper. Adam then walked over to the sarcophagus and cleaned the blade on a skull that lay inside the sarcophagus. Next, he went and did the same to Billy.

"Science and magic, once mortal enemies, come together as sisters. Just you watch!" said Black Adam, as he flipped a switch and started the draining process. Billy and Viviane both screamed in pain as their magicks were taken away and emptied into the skull and bones in the sarcophagus.

"Did I forget to mention that the process would be painful?" yelled Black Adam. The skull and bones slowly came together and started to regenerate its muscles, organs and flesh. Eventually, it took on the form of a woman with blood red hair, who bolted up once the energy stopped.

"Where am I??" she asked, breathing heavily. Black Adam smiled, knelt and said, "With me again, my dear."

The woman jumped out of the sarcophagus and approached Adam.

"My dear Teth-Adam! How wonderful to see you again!" she said, kneeling down and giving him a soft kiss on his cheek. Black Adam stood up and handed her a red dress. She dressed herself and turned her attention to the teens.

"And who are these two children?" the woman asked.

"Oh! Of course, where are my manners? Children, this is Blaze, your new queen," said Black Adam, as Blaze gave the duo a very deceptive smile.

"Queen of nothing, if I have anything to do with it!" yelled Viviane as she struggled in her chains.

"Quite a feisty one we have here! What do you call yourself?" Blaze asked Viviane.

"Moon Maiden," replied Viviane.

"A moniker? That's okay, I can already tell much about you by looking at your wings. I thought Angels were supposed to stay confined to the Moon? What are you doing on this planet?"

"None of your business." Blaze chuckled and walked to Billy.

"And who is this handsome young man? And why does he have a cloth in his mouth?" asked Blaze.

"My love, this is the Wizard's new Champion," said Adam.

"Really now? I can tell he is choosing them younger then," said Blaze, as she placed a hand on Billy's cheek.

"Don't you dare touch him, lady!" yelled Viviane, about ready to burst from her chains.

"Oh my! I see that I've treaded onto claimed territory! How terrible of me," said Blaze, giggling a bit.

"My love," said Black Adam "Let's leave the children here, so that I may show you the world that we will rule,"

"Yes, of course! Goodbye, children. Best wishes to you!" said Blaze, walking away with Black Adam towards the exit.

Ten minutes passed by, without Viviane or Billy saying anything (as if Billy could, anyways). Just as if it seemed that they would be stuck there for the rest of their lives, a large metal frame smashed through the entrance of the Museum. The entire front section was suddenly carved away by Sivana's mech landing in that exact spot. From Viviane and Billy's point of view, they could see Sivana dazed and out cold in his pilot's seat; the solid glass-polymer that encapsulated him had been severely cracked but still intact.

"Whoa! What's going on here?" Viviane heard Mary say as she and Freddy float in from the outside.

"What took you guys so long??" yelled Viviane, relieved to see a friendly face.

"That machine is a lot tougher than we gave it credit for," said Freddy, ripping off Viviane's chains and setting her free. Mary went up to Billy and ripped off his chains.

"So, Billy, they got you with the old gag-in-the-mouth trick, again then?" said Mary. Billy took off his gag and said, "Well, you try getting your face smashed in by somebody with better powers than yours!"

"So what happened then?" asked Freddy.

"Black Adam resurrected his girlfriend, and Lord knows what they're going to do," said Viviane, rubbing her wrists to get rid of the chain marks.

"And whatever it might be, it's not going to be good. I sensed nothing but evil from the woman when she touched me," said Billy.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go get them!" said Mary.

"No, wait up. There's just something that's been getting at me this entire time," Billy said.

"What is it then?" asked Freddy.

"Black Adam has been getting the upper hand over me every single time we've fought,"

"Maybe it's just he's a better fighter, Billy,"

"It could be. But he was a champion just like I was. There's no reason to doubt to that he had a different set of powers than I have. Every time he hit me, it really hurt, but when I would hit him, he just shook it off. I believe I know the reason why," explained Billy.

"And that is?" asked Mary.

"You, Freddy and I are all sharing the same lightning bolt. Our powers are one-third of what we usually would have,"

"I see. But what difference would it make? It's us four against two,"

"True, but Black Adam would tear us apart if we tried to gang up on him. That's not to mention that woman Blaze he has at his side. I know I can defeat him if I had more power,"

"I hope you can, Billy," said Mary "Or else you're buying me a new book."

Mary and Freddy yelled their magic words, reverting back to their original selves.

"Get out of the city, guys. Get as far away as possible. Oh, and while you're at it, take Sivana with you," said Billy.

"Sure thing, bro," said Mary. She looked at him for a second and then hugged him. Surprised, Billy hugged back and said, "I will." Mary then went over to Viviane and hugged her.

"You too, Viviane. Please take care of my brother. I've only had him for a little bit,"

"You don't need to worry, Mary," said Viviane. Freddy came up to her and hugged her too. "Take care," he said, limping back to Mary.

Then, the two walked to the mecha, broke Sivana out and carried him out of sight.

Viviane and Billy were once again left alone in the dark museum. There was a silence for a few seconds, as both teens looked at each other with concern.

"I hope you have enough energy left, Vivi," said Billy.

"He took a lot, but I'll have enough. They're regenerating as we speak. And you?" asked Viviane.

"The lightning with take care of that," he said. There was another silence, both of them not looking away from each other's eyes.

"This is my entire fault, Viviane. Black Adam, Blaze, this power I have…I'm sorry I had to drag you into this," said Billy, looking away now.

"Billy, dear, I think we've been through enough together to know that I am not going to run away and cower behind a rock. You risked your life for me when you rescued me on the Moon. It's only fair that I get to do the same for you," said Viviane, putting a hand on his cheek.

"I shouldn't be letting you do this," said Billy, cracking a small smile. Viviane kissed Billy and said, "Besides, Moon Maiden never runs away from a fight."

Billy said his magic word and, together, headed out the museum.

It didn't take long for Captain Marvel and Moon Maiden to locate where Black Adam and Blaze had gone to. The power-hungry duo had made City Hall their headquarters for whatever insane scheme that they had planned for the city. Captain Marvel arrived just as Viviane teleported next to him. Black Adam had made a throne for Blaze out of the rubble of City Hall. Blaze sat and smiled at the two heroes, with Black Adam at her side.

"Adam, sweetheart, look at who's here," said Blaze in her seductive voice.

"I see them, my love, I see them," said Adam. Captain Marvel approached the ruined steps of City Hall.

"Welcome, my friends, to the start of a new age! You should consider yourselves lucky that you are here, for you are about the witness the birth of our new kingdom. One where Blaze and I shall rule as king and queen, and one where you two are no longer around to meddle in our plans," said Black Adam with a big grin on his face.

"You're delusion, Adam. There is no way that we are going to let that happen," said Marvel.

"I thought that you might say that. I guess then I am going to have to kill you first,"

"We'll see about that, Adam,"

"Yes…we will,"

Just then, Black Adam slammed into Captain Marvel and slammed him into the asphalt. Marvel jumped up and smashed his fist across Adam's face. Adam recovered, grabbed Marvel and flew both of them into an adjacent building.

Meanwhile, Viviane was left alone on the steps of City Hall, watching as the fight between Captain Marvel and Black Adam unfolded.

"So…you are the famous Viviane De Milo then?" said Blaze. Viviane turned around and looked at Blaze as she rose from her throne and walked down towards Viviane.

"How did you know that?" asked Viviane. Blaze smiled and said, "I told you, girl, I can tell much from a person by just a thought. Like in your case, its really Princess Viviane Kaylin De Milo of the Lunar Kingdom of the Moon Angels. Now that is what I call a mouthful, wouldn't you agree?"

"So you can read my mind then? Big deal," said Viviane.

"It's much more than that. I can read your very soul. Your secrets, your memories…your most inner desires," said Blaze. Viviane took a step back.

"Let's see…a few months ago…Oh my, I can't believe you did that to your poor mother!"

"She was a horrible person!"

"But she still didn't deserve that, did she? Your caretaker Lisa. Why would you make her worry so much like that? She loves you like her own!"

"I think you've made your point!"

Blaze grinned and stared deeply into Viviane's eyes. "Not yet. We still have to talk about your boyfriend, Billy Batson,"

"Don't you dare!" yelled Viviane.

"Well now…it appears you really love him. You're practically glowing with love for him. That is so sweet,"

"You don't need powers to see that I love him, lady. I'm not shy about admitting that,"

"What's this I see about…marriage? Even kids? Why Viviane, are you shy about admitting that?" said Blaze.

"Well…I…"

"But apparently…Billy doesn't share those feelings as well. I wonder why?"

"No…stop it…" said Viviane, taking a few steps back. Blaze followed her, keeping a probing grin on her face.

"So, tell me, Viviane. How could a boy like Billy possibly be with a princess like you? This poor boy has been through a lot to get to where he is. You have been spoon-fed your entire life! Both of you come from completely different backgrounds. Not too mention, if even Billy really loves you like that at all…"

"I said stop it!!" yelled Viviane, tears forming in her eyes.

"Like reading a book, my dear. I already saw it in his soul. It wasn't burning with the fierce desire as yours was…"

"It's…not true…it can't be…"

"He doesn't love you, Viviane. You two can never be!"

Viviane wiped some tears away and turned to face Blaze.

"You saw into my soul…but you can never feel what's inside. But I bet you can feel this!" yelled Viviane as she blasted Blaze in the face with white energy. Blaze flew into a pillar next to the entrance of the building. Blaze rose from the rubble and smiled.

"Now this is going to be interesting," said Blaze.