NOTE: THE NEW UPDATE IS PART VIII, NOT THIS CHAPTER. I SWAPPED THEM TO SMOOTH OUT THE CHRONOLOGY. SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION!

And now, back to the bad guys! What malevolent mischief might Mr. Mind be machinating? Time to start finding out!


Part IX

The cell in Rock Falls Penitentiary was cramped and dark and gray…and covered from floor to ceiling with wild scribbles and symbols.

From his perch by the narrow wall vent, Mr. Mind peered down at the cell's lone inmate, watching the shriveled human mutter and curse as he tried in vain to recall the spells he had lost when wizard's Champion severed his link with the Seven Deadly Sins.

"Thaddeus Sivana," the worm intoned, the amplifier he wore making his tinny voice seem to echo against the walls.

The man's bald head shot up, the room's dim light highlighting the deep scars around his eye. Adjusting his glasses, Sivana shouted, "What's that? Who's there?"

"I've been watching you, Doctor," Mr. Mind said. "I know that, while currently you have lost your connection to Magic, your intelligence remains intact. As does your drive – your quest for power, and revenge."

"I'm not crazy," Sivana said, staring around wildly as he searched for the source of the voice. "I am hearing this. Who are you! Show yourself!"

"You may call me Mr. Mind," the worm spoke grandly from the shadows. "We share a common enemy, I believe. An upstart child of your world, instilled with powers he doesn't deserve to guard a seat of power he does not understand."

"Billy Batson," Sivana snarled, his features twisting in fury as he spoke the boy's name. "That cocky cheese thought he could take me down, humiliate me…!"

"Batson, yes. The wizard's chosen fool, and his five ignorant siblings," Mr. Mind sneered. "But like all children, they learn, and learn quickly. Our window to act is small. That is why I am reaching out…and reaching in…"

"Reaching…" Sivana frowned, his eyes still darting in search of the speaker. "What do you mean?"

"I am forming a Society of Evil," the worm proclaimed, "with members capable of removing the obstacles that stand in our path to true power. Join us, Doctor. Return with me to the Rock of Eternity, and we can seize the magic of the Seven Realms together – before the wizard's Champion has time to learn his role and reach his full potential!"

The green caterpillar-like being inched his tiny form from the shadowed corner into the light, where Sivana could see him plainly.

Sivana squinted, then blinked and squinted again.

"Join… What? …the hell—!" The prisoner jeered. "A caterpillar! Is this some kind of a joke? You expect me, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, to take orders from a little green caterpillar!"

"I have no patience for the insular prejudices that so limit the minds of you walking, talking monkeys," Mr. Mind snapped. "Physical size is no measure of a being's intelligence, or magical ability. Your problem, Doctor, is your assumptions."

Sivana clenched his fists. "Insect! You dare—"

"There is more than one way to gain magic," the worm said coldly. "More ways than a mind can imagine. You must decide. Are you with me? Or do you prefer to allow your mind to wither in this cage?"

"But how?" Sivana demanded angrily, and slapped his hand against the wall. "This cell… It's all metal and concrete brick. Without the right symbols – the spell I need to return to the Rock—"

Mr. Mind scoffed loudly and shot a disparaging glance at Sivana's wall scribbles through his own round glasses.

"Untutored ape!" the tiny being snarked. "Mine is the power of mind! I require no primitive symbols to open a portal." The worm appeared to phase through the vent's metal grate, causing the entire wall to seem to ripple like water. "But I won't keep it open long," he called back. "You can follow me, now. Join my team. Or rot in this cell. Your choice."

"I'll follow. I'll join you!" Sivana cried and reached his hands out, wincing and closing his eyes as he pushed his way through the concrete bricks into a dark cavern lit only by torchlight.

"My god…" he whispered as he stared around the cave, recognizing the alcove off the main hall to the old wizard's throne room. "I'm here… I'm back! How in the name of—"

"I name the gods, Doctor. Not the other way around," Mr. Mind said smugly. Sivana followed the being's tinny voice to a rough table carved into the rock. Shadowy figures sat around it, creatures the worm introduced as Sivana crossed the room to claim a seat among them.

"Meet the members of my monstrous society," the worm said. "Mister Atom!"

Sivana stared up at a huge, looming robot whose broad shoulders tapered up to a gold-plated, conical head.

"I wouldn't get too close, Doctor," the worm warned with a chuckle. "Mister Atom gets his power from radioactive energy! To his left, we have:

"Kru'll the Eternal!" He gestured to a hulking, hairy being wearing a spiked, metal helmet.

"Herkimer!" He indicated a Crocodile Man, his mouthful of sharp teeth distracting Sivana's attention from his elegant tie and tailored suit.

"And, finally, Ibac! Another of your primitive kind I had to break out of jail," Mr. Mind said scoffingly, crawling past a muscular brute of a man whose cruel glare made Sivana grit his teeth.

"Including you, Doctor, there are six of us here," the worm said, reaching the head of the table and turning dramatically to address them all, the strength of his personality somehow managing to make the tiny being seem more than a match for the massive monsters he'd gathered to his side. "Six of us. And seven thrones. What I propose—"

"Hold on," Sivana said, furrowing his scarred brow. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"That we claim the thrones left by the Council for ourselves?" Mr. Mind said and grinned expansively, displaying his insectoid jaws. "Take control of Magic's Source and rule the Seven Realms as gods! Why not?" he demanded. "What's to stop us? The Council of Wizards is long defunct. S.H.A.Z.A.M.! is dust; his Champion a dependent child! Already, seeds of disaffection have begun to sprout in the minds and hearts of the friends with whom that young fool has chosen to share his powers. And as you know, Doctor, Envy can be a powerful ally, if channeled through the right host."

Sivana raised his eyebrows.

"Then…the Seventh Throne…?"

"You catch on quickly, Doctor," Mr. Mind praised. "I like that. We require seven members to challenge the claim of the thrones' so-called 'heirs'. The bonds of Family protect those children now. But I believe we've both witnessed how the Champion's greatest strength is also his greatest vulnerability. His...Achilles Heel, if you will."

"We defeat the Wizzard'ss Champion," the Crocodile Man hissed. "Forcce him to relinquissh hiss powerss, and the Magiclandss are ourss to control."

"Yes, ours," Mr. Mind enthused. "To rule or consume as we see fit!"

Sivana nodded slowly, noting the avarice and anticipation twisting the faces of his monstrous fellows.

"I like the way you think, Mind," he said, folding his hands as he leaned forward. "Tell me more."


In the neighboring hall, a mirror glinted in the flickering torchlight. A ghostly reflection appeared in the glass…a woman's features, translucent as water, clenched in anxious horror.

As the Society's meeting concluded in a cacophony of wicked laughter, the image vanished so smoothly, so completely, not even the telepathic Mr. Mind sensed that she'd been listening in…

To Be Continued…


References include - Shazam! (movie - partially quoted/paraphrased); Shazam! Volume 1, by Geoff Johns (partially quoted/paraphrased); Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal (Vol.1), by Denny O'Neil and C.C. Beck; Shazam! #2: Shazam! and the Seven Magic Lands!, by Geoff Johns; Batman The Brave and the Bold: The Malicious Mr. Mind, Menace from the Conquering Caveman!; Shazam! (1981): Best Seller; Justice League Action: The Brain Buster; Justice, by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger (this book is so strikingly BEAUTIFUL! I may love it even more than Kingdom Come).

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know you're out there: Please Review! :D