Muzzaf Amadin, dictator of Kahndaq, was giving a speech. A great crowd had formed in the plaza in front of him, and TV cameras were trained on the balcony where he stood. As he spoke of Kahndaq's future, uttering vague words about staying strong in difficult times, he did not notice that many of his people were looking at the sky. A fiery meteor seemed to be descending from space, growing larger and larger, as if it was about to strike the Kahndaqi capitol building.
As the meteor grew closer, fear spread through the crowd. Then, Amadin himself cried out in terror when he saw that the meteor was descending directly towards his balcony. Amadin nervously looked at the door behind him, and then he rushed inside when he saw what the meteor really was.
Black Adam was wreathed in the flames of atmospheric re-entry, but he was completely unharmed from his trip to space. He landed on the balcony in a fiery explosion that sent two of Amadin's aides tumbling into the crowd below. Adam punched his way through the wall of the palace, pursuing Amadin.
"SHOOT HIM!" the terrified dictator screamed at his guards.
The capitol building was filled with the staccato roar of automatic weapons, but none of the bullets harmed Adam. Some of the people in the square outside were hit by stray gunfire, but Amadin didn't care. He only wanted to put as much distance between himself and Amadin as possible.
The soldiers were a mere nuisance to Adam, who pushed them aside whenever they got in his way. He was here to reclaim his kingdom, and nothing would stop him.
"JUNIOR?" Fred exclaimed in disgust, throwing the newspaper down on the outdoor table at the abandoned restaurant where the three Marvels were sitting as they waited for new developments in their war with Sabbac.
"They're calling me Captain-" Fred stopped right before he would have said the name that would change him back to his own form. He then turned to Billy, and said, "Your name- Junior."
"I didn't ask them to call you Captain Marvel Jr.," Billy said, looking at the article titled "MARVEL FAMILY" STOPS BANK ROBBERS. "I think it's because you're the only one of us who really looks like a teenager. I didn't come up with the name "Marvel Family", and I certainly never asked to be called the "Big Red Cheese" by some reporters."
"I'm still worried about Theo," Mary said. "Lightning doesn't usually strike hospital rooms where superpowered criminals are being kept. He must have somehow turned into Black Adam again."
"We can't do anything about him now," Billy said. "If he's returning to Kahndaq, which is what I would expect him to do, we can't follow him without leaving New York City undefended. And if we split up, we won't be strong enough to fight Sabbac."
Billy's cell phone suddenly rang. He picked it up, and put it to his ear.
"Turn on the TV," said a cruel, but human-sounding voice with a Russian accent. The phone call ended, but Billy knew who it was.
Although the Wisdom of Solomon told him not to listen to anything that Sabbac had to say, Billy still needed to know what was happening. He flew into a small restaurant where the news was playing on a TV. All of the restaurant's patrons stopped eating to stare at Captain Marvel, and at the other two Marvels, who were standing outside. A waiter dropped a tray of dirty dishes on the floor, causing three of them to break.
But Billy did not notice any of that. All he saw was the image on the TV, which showed Sabbac standing on the roof of a theater in Times Square, holding Timmy Timberland in front of him. Billy was only vaguely aware of the newscaster saying that Sabbac had kidnapped this child, and police were arriving at the scene, but they were not taking any action, to avoid hurting the boy.
Fred and Mary had also seen it, so that when Billy flew out of the restaurant and rose into the air, they followed him, and Fred said, "It's a trap, Billy. You know that."
"I'm not going to let that child die," Billy said forcefully. "Enough people have suffered because of my actions. You don't have to come with me, but I am going to save Timmy Timberland."
"Don't be ridiculous," Mary said. "We'll stick together."
When Billy arrived in Times Square, Sabbac was standing on the roof of a theater, holding a screaming Timmy Timberland in front of him. "You know the consequences of your actions, Captain Marvel. I do not know who you are, so I can only guess. You talked to this boy, while ignoring all of your other fans. I think you know him in your life. That is why he must die now. You shall know the price of your actions. Tell me who you are, Marvel, so I can stop guessing. Or more people will die as I try to find out the truth."
As Billy flew towards the theater, he considered telling Sabbac everything, just to save this innocent child whose only crime was believing in Captain Marvel. But then Tamara and everyone else close to Billy would die, as Sabbac would not stop until he had found everyone Billy cared about and killed them.
Timmy screamed, and Sabbac threw him over Times Square, causing the ten-year-old to fly towards the side of a skyscraper like a missile.
With the Speed of Mercury, Billy intercepted Timmy and caught him, swooping down towards the street to let him go. But then, Billy noticed that Timmy was writhing in horrible pain. Red veins were visible all over the child's skin. He was caught in the grip of an infernal curse. He could die any moment now, and there seemed to be only one thing Billy could do.
"Distract him!" Billy shouted to Fred and Mary.
As he concentrated on the Power of Zeus, Billy distantly saw his two companions fly at Sabbac, who easily threw them aside. Fred was slammed onto the roof of a parked taxi, and Mary was thrown into the famous Coca-Cola sign, which exploded in a brilliant shower of sparks. Billy hoped that they could hold their own for now, while he tried to save Timmy.
Infernal effects cease to function at the Rock of Eternity, Billy thought, remembering what Shazam had told him. He felt the mortal world slip away, and then he reappeared in the Rock of Eternity.
Shazam rose from his throne, exclaiming, "You fool! It's not him!"
Then, Billy saw the dreadful mistake that he had made. The creature he was holding was not Timmy Timberland. It was a skeletal demon, with glowing red eyes, and a hideously misshapen head. Infernal effects may cease in the Rock of Eternity, but demons do not change their nature, even here. This demon only the illusion that made it look like Timmy Timberland.
The demon's mouth extended in a hideous smile. Billy suddenly knew that this was what they really wanted. It was never about Captain Marvel. They only wanted to get one of their own kind into the Rock of Eternity. Everything else was secondary.
Billy swung his arm downwards to smash the monster's grinning skull, but the demon exploded before he could touch it. The blast was unlike anything Billy had ever felt before. It felt like his mind was on fire, and the very world became a blur around him. He saw the gaping hole in the floor, which stretched down so far that Times Square was visible beneath it. Strangely enough, he now realized that the Rock of Eternity actually did follow him everywhere.
Sabbac flew upwards through the hole, but Billy was helpless to fight him. However, Sabbac ignored Billy's prone form. He flew straight at Shazam, who for the first time that Billy had ever seen, was standing in front of his throne, rather than sitting on it.
Shazam held out both hands, and a brilliant blast of radiant arcane energy slammed into Sabbac, hurling him backwards. Sabbac extended his own hands as he rose to his feet and approached the wizard. Blindingly bright infernal fire clashed with Shazam's own energy, throwing out waves of destructive force that battered the walls of the Rock of Eternity, sending out great clouds of dust and debris. Ancient artifacts were shattered by the terrifying display of power. Billy tried to rise, but he was pushed back down by the energies colliding around him. Through the conflagration of energy, Sabbac stepped toward Shazam, moving closer with each second, his hands outstretched to crush the wizard.
The Historama shattered as it was struck by a stray surge of energy. Artifacts were broken and hurled off the shelves. The red granite statues imprisoning the Seven Deadly Sins started to crack. Shazam fell to his knees, and feebly held out a hand. The colliding energies disappeared, and the Dagger of Ares flew into Shazam's outstretched hand. The wizard rose to his feet, weakened by his previous effort, but still strong. Billy slowly stood up, recovering from the magical blast. He saw Fred and Mary flying in through the hole in the Rock of Eternity, trying to strike Sabbac from behind.
Everything seemed to slow to a crawl. Sabbac was trapped, with Shazam in front of him and the three Marvels behind him. Shazam thrust the Dagger of Ares at Sabbac's chest, aiming for the middle of the demon's glowing pentagram. The blade was only inches from the pentagram when Sabbac grabbed Shazam's arm, and savagely twisted it. The wizard cried out in pain as the bones in his arm were snapped, and Sabbac snatched the Dagger from him.
Before Billy could do anything, Sabbac plunged the dagger into Shazam's heart.
The world seemed to explode. Billy felt his powers being ripped from his body. The world was filled with light, and streaks of fiery debris. Times Square was rushing towards Billy. He saw Fred and Mary also tumbling. All three of the Marvels were struggling to resist the change that the loss of Shazam was inflicting upon them. Billy could not fly, and all he could was to try to hold onto the Courage of Achilles so he could remain invulnerable until they hit the ground.
The impact with the pavement below was shockingly painful, but it did not cause any serious injury. Billy saw Mary lying near him, in her own form. They did not see Fred. A cloud of debris was spreading in the sky from where the Rock of Eternity had exploded above Times Square. Pieces of the Rock, charged with energy from the explosion, fell into the city, blasting craters in the pavement and obliterating cars.
Billy kept his head down as the devastation rained down around him. Soon, the impact sounds and flashes of light ceased, but the screaming of people did not. Billy slowly rose to his feet, and Mary did the same.
When Billy finally looked, Times Square looked like a war zone. Nearly all of the brightly lit billboards and neon signs were out. Humongous posters for movies and Broadway plays were in shreds. The streets were filled with craters, and several buildings were in ruins. Dead and injured civilians seemed to be everywhere. People were screaming. Some were running from the scene, while others simply stared in shock.
And the horrors were not only on the ground. High above Times Square, a massive white cloud was expanding, quickly growing so large that it hid the sun, casting the world in a dark grey haze. As the shadow spread, the temperature dropped rapidly, as a feeling of deathly cold spread out over the city. At its edges, the white cloud was held in check by a ring of infernal fire. The fiery ring rapidly expanded, and Billy figured out what was causing the cold. Billy remembered that a fragment of the demon Ixitor had been kept in the Rock of Eternity, and it would now be free because of the Rock's destruction. If it was released, what about the Seven Deadly Sins?
As if in answer to Billy's question, people started to go insane all around him. Billy saw some people breaking into parked cars to steal what was inside. In one place, a ragged-looking man tried to break into a police car, as he was driven insane by greed, but the policeman, acting through stubborn pride, pulled out his gun and shot the robber dead. Elsewhere, people smashed the windows of restaurants in a desperate attempt to eat whatever they could as the sin of gluttony made them forget everything except their hunger.
Envy motivated some people to senselessly attack anyone who appeared to have more money than they did, while wrath provoked several fights. A couple started to kiss in the middle of the devastation, overwhelmed by their lust for each other. The police who were present at the scene were overcome by sloth, and did nothing to prevent the sudden surge of crime, or to restore order. The effects of the Sins spread throughout the city, as the cloud of demonic cold continued to widen.
Sabbac hovered in the sky, and Billy, desperately wanting to destroy the demon for what he had done, shouted, "Shazam! Shazam!"
Nothing happened, and Mary also did not accomplish anything when she spoke the magic word. They remained in their own powerless bodies.
Billy and Mary ran through the ruins of Times Square, stumbling over debris, searching for Fred and calling out his name.
They heard a voice saying, "Here!", and recognized it as Fred's. Their friend had landed on top of a wrecked Mercedes. Even now, a man controlled by envy and greed was searching through the car's smashed trunk.
Sabbac flew down from the sky with shocking speed and snatched Fred up into the air, as Billy and Mary called out Fred's name in utter horror.
With his free hand, Sabbac flung a fireball that exploded near Billy and Mary, striking two other people who were standing near them. Grabbing Mary's hand, Billy ran with her, fleeing onto what was now an unrecognizable street, as fireballs exploded around them.
They ran into a parking garage, dashing past rows of parked cars. Then, fiery debris suddenly fell in front of them, as the ceiling shook as a fireball blasted a hole in it. Sabbac flew through the orange-lipped hole, dragging Fred with him and carrying the Dagger of Ares at his side. In his own crippled body, Fred looked pathetic and terrified.
Billy and Mary stopped, knowing that they had nowhere to run. They spoke the wizard's name together, but nothing happened. Sabbac could find them regardless of how hard they tried to escape.
"Know that you have lost," Sabbac snarled. "Your precious Rock of Eternity has been destroyed. One piece of Ixitor is free, and shall cover this city, as the Seven Deadly Sins drive its people to give into their darkest desires, until they are no better than animals. Once I have reunited all thirteen pieces of Ixitor, the world will be plunged into a new ice age, and human civilization will perish. The Sins are free, Shazam is dead, and the Rock of Eternity is destroyed. Even now, my mortal servants are passing out deadly weapons to anyone who wants to use them. What have you to say for yourselves? What can you say to me?"
"We'll never give up," Fred said desperately. "Even if we are without our powers, there are still others who will believe in what we stand for. Even if we die, others will live, and they will know how terrible you are."
"These others – do they have any powers?" Sabbac asked mockingly. "Without the Rock, your gods can create no more champions."
His hand tightened around Fred's throat, and in that last moment before Sabbac could wring his neck, Fred cried out, "We'll always remember – Captain Marvel!"
To Fred's utter surprise, a lightning bolt blasted from the sky, flying through the multistory hole that Sabbac had created with his fire. The lightning threw Sabbac into a row of parked cars, and transformed Fred into Captain Marvel Jr. Billy and Mary invoked Shazam's name, but nothing happened.
"Go!" Fred yelled at Mary and Billy, as he flew towards Sabbac. Fred and Sabbac collided, and Fred was hurled backwards, flying right through the wall of the parking garage.
Billy and Mary ran for the parking garage's exit as a fireball exploded behind them, striking up a cloud of dust and flame. Sabbac flew straight for them, but he was slammed to the floor by Fred, who had flown back in through the hole that had been made when he was thrown through the wall. Fred wrestled with Sabbac, trying to keep him pinned down for just a few seconds so that Billy and Mary could escape.
"I curse all of you!" Sabbac exclaimed. "May the Seven Deadly Sins destroy you and everyone you care for!"
As Billy and Mary ran out onto the street, they heard loud crashing noises from inside the parking garage as Fred and Sabbac continued to fight. Fire blasted out of its windows when Sabbac's fireballs struck parked vehicles. Billy hated leaving Fred behind, but he had no choice. Without powers, he and Mary would only get in the way.
School had recently gotten out, and Tamara was at a shopping center with Jessica and Lauren, still unable to take her mind off what she knew could happen to Billy at any time. The three girls were standing on a sidewalk, waiting to cross the street, when the ring of fire passed over them in the sky above. They did not see it, but they saw the cloud of translucent white ice spreading in the air, casting the city in shadow while carrying a deathly chill with it wherever it spread.
"What the- Hey!" Lauren started to say something about the sudden clouds, but then the Seven Deadly Sins reached out, and a man who passing by on the sidewalk grabbed Tamara, motivated by the sin of Lust. Tamara shook her attacker off. Jessica and Lauren moved to help her, but they too were grabbed by men who had also been suddenly overcome with lust, and two other men grabbed hold of Tamara.
Suddenly, there was a gunshot, followed by two others. One of the men holding Tamara stiffened and then fell dead. The other three men ran away in sudden fear.
"RUN!" Tamara yelled.
She and her friends fled from the three gunmen who were chasing them. The assassins were armed with semi-automatic handguns. Tamara had no idea where they came from, but that did not matter now. Right now, all that mattered was getting away with them. It was utterly terrifying to Tamara, running away from the men, and hearing the sound of the gunshots, and of the bullets striking walls near her. She kept glancing over her shoulders at Lauren and Jessica, terrified that one or both of them might fall and never get up.
Elsewhere, Fred's friend Mike cried out in dismay as a crowd maddened with gluttony broke into the supermarket where he worked, and ripped food off the shelves, savagely devouring it. A man who was carrying a baseball bat tried to grab some of the candy that was sold at the counter. Mike snatched the box of candy away, and barely dodged the baseball bat when it swung towards him. The bat smashed the cash register, and Mike threw himself to the floor as coins flew around him like shrapnel.
As Mike cowered beneath the checkstand, he heard the distinctive sound of a shotgun being pumped. He rose, and saw Lucas, another employee, who was a friend of his, pointing a shotgun at the gluttonous crowd.
"BACK!" Lucas shouted, brandishing the shotgun dramatically to get the crowd's attention. "Everyone step away!"
The crowds dispersed, some of the people seeming to regain their sanity and leave the store, while others continued to satiate their hunger in other sections of the supermarket. Then, Mike saw a car that he vaguely recognized. It took him a second to remember that it was Chris's car, and then, acting faster than he had thought was possible, he threw himself behind the checkstand. A burst of gunfire ripped through the store as Chris, the school bully who was Mike's worst enemy, unleashed his wrath upon the store. Lucas collapsed as a bullet hole appeared in his stomach, Mike screamed in pain when a bullet slammed into his right leg just above the knee, and Chris continued shooting until his gun went dry. He picked up a semi-automatic pistol, and walked towards the supermarket, his eyes glowing with infernal fury.
Billy and Mary held hands to avoid losing each other in the press of people who were going in all directions. They did not have a destination in mind, they only wanted to get away from Sabbac.
"There must be some way for us to get our powers back," Mary said persistently.
"How?" Billy demanded.
"Fred's powers still work. He gets his powers from us. Then we must still have our powers. He seemed weaker when he was fighting Sabbac. If he was the only one who still had any power, he would be as strong as you were last month. We still have our powers, we just don't know how to-"
She paused, as they almost ran straight into a wall of people. They looked around them in all directions, as people with vacant expressions in their eyes surrounded him on all sides. Many of them were brandishing improvised weapons, such as knives, clubs, and even trash can lids. There was no doubt that this was Sabbac's curse at work.
"Are you ready?" Billy asked.
Mary nodded slightly. She looked as scared as he felt, but they both understood that they needed to get out of here. They ran straight at the crowd. Billy punched one possessed New Yorker in the jaw, and Mary knocked another one down with a kick to the shin. They ran between the Sin-possessed people, narrowly avoiding fists and improvised clubs. Everything seemed like a blur as they ran through the streets, avoiding the sudden attacks caused by the Sins.
A gunshot suddenly rang in Billy's ears, and for a second, he thought that somebody was trying to shoot him. Then he saw a man in a police uniform standing in front of him, having just fired a shot into the air to disperse the crowd. While keeping his gun trained on the crowd, the man motioned for Billy and Mary to follow him. Something seemed odd about the policeman, but the two teenagers were too exhausted and frightened to think about it. Now, at last, they could be safe with someone who could protect them.
When the man led Billy and Mary inside a restaurant, Billy noticed how cold the weather had become. For the first time, he was aware that he was shivering with the deathly chill of Ixitor's ice, which seemed colder than the blizzard that had been forecast for the following week.
At the policeman's direction, Billy and Mary sat down on a bench at the restaurant, and sat still as the cop pulled a quilt off the wall and draped it around them to provide some protection from the cold. A sense of giddy relief spread over Billy, as he realized that finally, he was safe, but he also was struck by a sudden feeling of despair, because he knew that he had lost. Fred was being pounded by Sabbac, and probably would be dead soon. The entire city was being destroyed by the power of Hell, and the rest of the world would soon follow.
But something seemed to not be right about the police officer, as he pointed his gun at the door, covering the entrance. It was like he wasn't NYPD. His uniform was blue, but it seemed vaguely different.
"His badge," Mary whispered.
Waldorf turned around, and Billy looked at the badge on the cop's chest, and saw that it read "PASSAIC COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT."
Suddenly, it all became clear to Billy. Someone in the police had obviously told Ishmael Gregor about where the witnesses were hiding. He must have had a corrupt cop on his payroll even before he was Sabbac. And then, Billy recognized the cop. It was Deputy Waldorf.
Waldorf suddenly aimed his gun at Billy. His eyes were glowing with the unnatural light of Sabbac's hypnotism. Like so many of Ishmael Gregor's minions, his mind had been taken over by Sabbac. Billy was too slow, and too far away. He could not react in time. But Mary could. Her foot lashed out, and kicked Waldorf in the shin.
Waldorf stumbled forwards as he pulled the trigger, and the bullet went wide, missing Billy by a foot. Billy and Mary tried to pounce on Waldorf and hold him down, but the blanket slowed them, and all three fell in a heap, overturning the table that Billy and Mary had been sitting at.
Billy grabbed Waldorf's gun arm, and as they struggled for control of the gun, it went off once, and a bullet struck a ceiling fan above them. Billy smashed Waldorf's head against the floor as Mary punched the rogue cop in the stomach. But Waldorf was tougher than either of them. He flung Mary away from him, and clouted Billy over the head with his gun. Just when Billy thought that he was about to realize how he could regain his powers, everything went black.