Hi everyone! I hope you had a great New Year! I got to fly to LA for my cousin's wedding right at the start of the month, which was awesome! Unfortunately I caught a terrible cold which turned into a sinus thing which sparked a cluster of evil migraines that put me a couple weeks behind in pretty much everything. *grrr* Still, I'm starting to feel a bit better, so I thought I'd check in with the bad guys and their plans before the meeting with Zatanna. Mostly because I want to make sure I don't miss anything and that everything will make sense once the confrontation starts up. Fair warning: things are gonna get a little complicated as the story enters its next phase and the Magic Lands are introduced, but if you've seen my Nightcrawler, Doctor Who, Smurf and...well, pretty much all my novel-length stories you'll know I love complicated convoluted multiverse stuff. It's one of the main things that drew me to Captain Marvel/Shazam! The subway train to the Rock of Eternity, the Rock's access to other worlds... So awesome! LOL!
I hope you enjoy this update, and I'll be back soon with more story. Stay tuned, and please let me know what you think! :)
Part XVIII
Deep in the heart of the Rock of Eternity, Mister Atom released a tinny snicker, his metallic fingers tip-tapping over his console's controls as he watched a host of color-coded waves of varying frequency undulate across his monitor screens.
"What'sss sso funny?" Herkimer hissed, his thick, scaly tail lashing as he peered over the robot's broad shoulder at the screens. "What have you and thisss masshine been up to?"
"Let's say I've been pushing our heroes' buttons," Atom quipped, his eyes glowing wickedly. "Testing my program's effectiveness. In fact, just a short time ago, I nearly had three of the Wizard's whelps come to blows in a casino's gambling room. It takes surprisingly little stimulation: a teeny tug here...a tiny nudge there..."
The Crocodile Man snarled.
"Ridiculousss robot! Do you think thiss iss a game!" he exclaimed, his long jaws snapping. "If the Wizzard'ss Champion sshould realizze—"
Atom waved him off.
"Please. You know as well as I: the arrogance of humans is matched only by their astounding ignorance. Besides, I'm not running these experiments for my amusement alone."
The bulky robot cast his glowing eyes from side to side and lowered his voice, leaning closer to Herkimer as he spoke.
"Think," he said. "If that conceited caterpillar is correct, the Champion and his chosen Family are the keys we need to break the Wizard's seal and unlock the Magic Lands. To that end, I have been testing that connection, determining which Champion matches to which vibrational realm. This will save time once our trap is sprung…time which may give me – that is, us – the advantage over our wily worm."
Herkimer's lizard eyes narrowed. "Ssso... You too believe Mind will betray usss," he hissed warily, his raspy voice more of a rumbling growl than a whisper.
"I believe the worm's hunger for power outweighs his good sense," Atom said, just as quietly. "He needs us now, of course, and he'll need us once the Magic Lands are unsealed. But, if we aim to keep what we take... Well, my scaly friend, that is—"
"I have it!" Dr. Sivana exclaimed, jumping up from behind his stacks and piles of ancient books. Mind turned his suspicious glare from Atom and Herkimer's little huddle and inched across the rough rock table toward the cruelly grinning human.
"You have found the means to recall the Wizard's fallen Champion from his banishment?" the worm demanded.
"Found, and deciphered the required invocation," Sivana said with a preening smirk. "I warned you not to underestimate me."
"Then what are you waiting for," Mr. Mind demanded. "Give it to me, and I'll enact the spell at once! The sooner we control the Seventh Throne—"
"Not so fast, Mind." Sivana straightened his glasses and moved away from the table. "If anyone's going to summon Teth-Adam, it will be me."
"You and what magic?" Mind sneered.
"The Eye of Sin," Sivana said, and Mind scowled. "I want it returned, or you can forget any hope of bringing Teth-Adam to this time."
The tiny worm stretched and reared back to his full height, fixing Sivana with a deadly glare.
"You dare to threaten me?" he snarled. "When you know full well I could rip what I want from your simian mind and leave you a drooling wreck? If I decide to let you keep breathing at all!"
"Witless worm," Sivana sneered. "You said yourself there is more than one way to gain magic. The Wizard's books contain more than dusty legends. Don't for one minute think that I am not prepared to—"
"Gentlemen," Herkimer said, inserting his scaly form into the fray. "We are lossing sssight of our goalsss."
"Yeah," Ibac said, crossing his burly arms. "What's so great about this Teth-Adam anyway? Just 'cause the old Wizard banished the guy thousands and thousands of years ago doesn't mean he'll want to help us, even if we are the ones who bring him back."
"He'll help us," Mind said dangerously, his insectoid mandibles clicking. "By his own will or by mine. But you're right," he said to Herkimer. "Time is short, and we cannot allow ourselves to become distracted by these petty power plays among our own ranks."
Turning to Sivana, he said, "The Eye is yours, Doctor. Take it, if you can, and initiate the spell of summoning. For whatever good it will do."
"What do you mean?" Herkimer said, narrowing his eyes at Sivana's startled, angry expression.
"You lumbering louts continually underestimate me," Mind said bitterly. "But, I could read the Doctor's thoughts. That summoning spell may well recall the Wizard's fallen Champion from his banishment, but it will take time. Perhaps more time than we have!"
The gathered monsters hissed and growled. Sivana's spectacled glare turned murderous.
"Why you crawly little—! How dare you pry into my—"
"Fortunately," Mind cut him off with a glowing glare of his own, leaving Sivana momentarily frozen in place with his bony hands curled like grasping claws. "I need not rely solely on the Doctor's talents. Thanks to the success of Atom's machine, I have an even more devastating idea in mind. A contingency plan I have long been devising – in the likelihood this human monkey should fail."
Sivana struggled to break loose from Mind's control, but the worm's spectacled glare seemed to charge the air around them, the force of it compelling the furious Sivana to squint and step back, reluctantly relinquishing his attack.
"What plan is that?" Kru'll grunted, stepping out from the shadows where he'd been lurking.
Mind turned a full circle, meeting each of the gathered monsters' gleaming eyes in turn.
"The Wizard was not the only being capable of channeling power or gifting magic to an unwitting host," Mind said. "The creation of Ibac, here, is proof enough of that."
Sivana furrowed his brow. "Then, you are proposing—"
"Quite right, Doctor," the little worm spoke over him, prompting another furious scowl. "We will draw our seventh member, not from the past, but from the current Shazamily itself!"
"But...how?" Kru'll rumbled.
"Remember, my fellow fiends, this Rock is not merely a seat of power. It is also a prison," Mind said. "I should know. Our allies are all around us."
Ibac nodded. "That's right," the brute said. "I've heard their voices whispering, here in these halls. Demons and goblins, dark gods and djinn… Locked away by the Wizard and his Family…desperate for escape…"
"What makes you think such creatures would be our allies?" Sivana demanded. "Surely they would have agendas, grudges and vendettas of their own?"
"Naturally," Mind said. "But, what more immediate grudge could they hold, what more pressing desire than to wreak their vengeance against the Wizard who entrapped them – or, in lieu of that – upon the Wizard's heirs?"
"The enemy of my enemy is my ally," Ibac grunted, and Mind smiled approvingly.
"There is another old saying," the worm said. "Wars are won before they are fought. The Champion's recent alliance with the 'heroes' of the Justice League does not concern me on the whole - most are more about muscle than magic and should be easily distracted. But we must be ready for any contingency. Kru'll! Herkimer!" he summoned.
The two monsters stepped forward.
"Time grows short," the little worm said. "If my senses are right – and they nearly always are – the Wizard's young fool and his costumed playmates will be joining us soon. When they arrive, I think it's only right we should be ready with a suitable welcome."
Kru'll and Herkimer shared a cruel, toothy grin, which Mind returned.
"I'm opening a portal to the Champion's home," he said, and wriggled back into his helmet, Mr. Atom's ray gun powering up with an electric hum as the spectacled worm turned his gaze toward the mirror they had set up. As he focused his stare, the ray gun's colorful tubes flashed brighter, faster; the mirror's glass began to shimmer and ripple like water.
"Go, quickly," Mind ordered. "And bring the remaining members of the so-called Shazamily to me."
"So, this is it, then," Sivana said, watching the two hulking monsters lumber through the rippling portal. "The trap is in motion." He glared down at the little green caterpillar on the table in front of him. "You're certain Batson will come here."
"I told you before, Magic's Champion must return to the Source," Mind said. "Up until now, he's been resisting the pull, like the cowardly child he is. But with the support of those Justice Jerks, he'll be here. Their drive for answers will leave him no choice. He'll bring them all straight to the throne room. And when he does..."
"We'll be attuned and ready," Atom said, flexing his fingers over his control panel. "Ready to deliver each Champion the shock of their lifetime!"
The tantrum could be heard across the street and halfway down the block. Darla shrieked and squealed, throwing herself down on the floor and screaming at the top of her lungs.
"What did you say to her?" Victor exclaimed, his bearded face a twisted wince of pain and bewilderment at his daughter's sudden, violent shift in mood.
"I didn't say anything," Eugene said sullenly, gripping his game controller like a miser gripping his wallet.
"Well something set this off," Rosa said angrily, "and you were the only one here."
"Why do you always think it's me?" Eugene exploded, his glaring eyes fixed on the TV screen. "Why don't you pick on Pedro? He's the one who said she couldn't touch his precious weights!"
"Pedro!" Victor called. "Come down here! Your mother and I want to talk to you."
"No way, man!" Pedro shouted from upstairs. "You're not pulling me into all this!"
"Pedro!" Rosa exclaimed. "Is that any way to talk to your father?"
"Victor's not my father, and you're not my mom!" Pedro snapped back, causing both his foster parents to flinch and blink. "Just get off my back, OK! I'm busy!"
Rosa's jaw tightened and her fists clenched tight.
"Oh, I have had enough of this," she said. "I don't know what's come over these kids, but I do know this is going to stop. Right now!"
"Darla," Victor tried to approach the screaming girl, "come on, honey. If something's wrong, we've always been able to talk it out."
"I don't want to talk!" Darla shrieked, tears streaking down her dark, flushed face. "I want you to go away! I want everyone to go away and disappear!"
"Well, that's not going to happen," Rosa said. "Because we're here for you, no matter what you might be feeling. Eugene—"
"Don't bother me!" Eugene snapped, his eyes fixed firmly on his game. "You think I can't pitch a fit too?"
"This isn't like you," Rosa said. "This isn't like any of you! Where are Mary, Freddy and Billy? I'm going upstairs to—"
"Rosa!" Victor exclaimed, straightening up to point and stare at the full-length mirror hanging on the wall by the coat rack. "Do you see what I'm seeing?"
"What are you— My god…!" she gasped, clutching her husband's arm. "Impossible!"
The mirror's glass warped and rippled like water. As the adults watched in stunned disbelief, two shadowy forms appeared within the glassy shimmer, growing and coalescing until two very large, very real monsters stood in the foyer: one, a hulking, hairy creature with a spiked helmet; the other a Crocodile Man with sharp teeth and an elegant suit.
Rosa and Victor didn't hesitate, their concern for the kids snapping them out of their momentary paralysis. Rosa scooped Darla into her arms while Victor ran for Eugene.
But the monsters were too fast. Heading the family off at the kitchen, Kru'll raised a threatening ax that stopped the horrified humans in their tracks. Herkimer smiled his toothy smile and pressed a small device to each of their arms. A soft hiss, and Darla, Rosa, Victor and Eugene sank to the floor, unconscious.
The sudden silence brought Pedro to the stairs, just in time to see the monsters hauling his family members over their hulking shoulders like sacks of flour. A jolt of horror made the boy's oddly angry, fuzzy mind suddenly clear and sharpen, and he dashed back to his room, digging through his backpack, his jacket pockets, in a desperate search for his phone.
"Come on, come on! I know I put it - ah!" he exclaimed, grasping his phone in triumph. Moving quickly, he unlocked the screen, but Herkimer burst through the door and grabbed the boy around the waist, knocking the phone to the floor as he pressed a dose of sedative into Pedro's arm.
"No! No, let go!" Pedro shrieked, struggling and digging his heels into the carpet as the scaly monster fought to lug him out of the room. Spotting his phone's glowing screen, Pedro shouted, "Call Billy! Call Billy!" hoping against hope that his phone's voice control app was active, that it would dial Billy's number... "Call Billy! Dammit, let me go...!"
But Herkimer just laughed a growling, snickering laugh, feeling the struggling boy grow limp and heavy in his arms as the sedative took its rapid effect.
"That'sss all of them," he reported to Kru'll as he lumbered down the stairs with his unconscious load. "Dead to the world."
Kru'll tilted his shaggy head back and laughed. "Well, that was super easy," he said.
"Barely an inconvenienssse," Herkimer agreed, shifting Pedro's weight as he reached for Eugene and Darla. "Misster Mind and Misster Atom ccertainly did a fine job 'pusshing these children'ss buttonss.' I've never heard sscreamsss quite like that."
"I wouldn't want them to turn that machine on me," Kru'll grunted.
"Yesss..." Herkimer hissed thoughtfully. 'Well, I've got thesse. You take the woman and the one with the beard."
"Did Mr. Mind want the woman and man?" Kru'll asked.
"Better to take them along than leave them here to make a fussss," Herkimer said. "Or worssse, alert the Champion before we're ready for him."
"Fair point," Kru'll said, hefting Rosa and Victor into his hairy arms and striding toward the rippling mirror. Herkimer followed with the three children, while upstairs, a faint voice sounded from Pedro's phone…
You've reached the voice mail of Billy Batson. Please leave your message after the beep…
To Be Continued…
References Include - Shazam! (movie, partially paraphrased); Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, by Jeff Smith; Justice League Action; Shazam! (1981); Batman The Brave and the Bold; Justice, by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger; Shazam! Volume 1, by Geoff Johns; Shazam! #2: Shazam! and the Seven Magic Lands!, by Geoff Johns, and far too many Pitch Meeting videos I watched while I was too sick to read.
P.S. I got kinda stuck on the next chapter for 'Often Wrong', but I'm still working on it so that update is still coming. Sorry about the wait!
Please stay tuned, and thanks so much for your reviews! It really helps to know you've been enjoying my story so far! :D
