Part XXIV

Superman took a steady stance and pulled back his arm, drawing power from his hips through his core to his shoulders as he sent his fist flying into the corridor wall. The forceful impact sent chunks of rough stone hurtling into the force field and careering across the floor.

Freddy whooped and rose into the air to avoid the shrapnel, genuinely awed to see his hero in action. But Superman didn't seem nearly so pleased. Pulling his fist out of the crater he'd made, he grimaced and leaned back against the wall, tightly clutching his knuckles.

"Whoa, dude – are you bleeding?" Freddy floated closer, staring in surprised dismay at the blood trickling down the Kryptonian's scraped up hand.

"I'm all right," Superman grunted, his teeth clenched against the unfamiliar pain as he irritably flexed his fingers. "It's this damn light."

Freddy pinched his lips together as he watched Superman sit back down and rub his eyes, unsettled to realize just how badly the torches were affecting the Kryptonian. The deep red light saturating the corridor had been growing steadily stronger the longer they remained trapped between the force fields. The fact that Superman was bleeding – could bleed…! It gave Freddy an uncomfortable chill. This wasn't merely fatigue. The light seemed to be robbing the Man of Steel of his invulnerability.

"This is no joke, man," he said, staring around the tunnel. It was probably in his mind, but the narrow, red-lit passageway seemed to be getting more cramped and claustrophobic with every passing minute. "We gotta get you out of here."

"Well, we've made a start," Superman said, gesturing to the cratered wall. "Just a short rest…and I'll give it another try…"

He leaned back and closed his eyes, but Freddy rushed to his side, giving the larger man's shoulder a firm shake.

"Hey, come on, you gotta stay awake," he said, his concern tightening his voice when Superman's head began to dip. "Hey – hey, let's talk OK? How about I ask you some questions. Like, away from this stupid light you're, like, totally invulnerable, right? I mean, no matter how rough the battle or how big the blast, you never got any cuts, bruises, burns, concussions, broken bones or ruptured organs, yeah? So, like, what about your hair?"

Superman blinked and squinted at him. "My hair?"

"Yeah," Freddy said, relieved that Superman seemed to be responding. "What do you do when you have to cut your hair? Or your nails? What about shaving? If you shed dead skin cells, do they, like, stay around forever? And what about your fingerprints? If you touch, like, a window or something, are your fingerprints, like, permanent? Do you even leave fingerprints?"

Superman stared for a moment, then started to chuckle. "I'd have a pretty tough time seeing through a pair of glasses if my fingerprints were permanent," he said. "As for shaving and the rest…" Smiling at Freddy, he tapped his temple and said, "Heat vision, remember? I angle the bathroom mirrors, focus just right, and personal maintenance is a snap."

"Laser eyes!" Freddy grinned. "That's so cool, bouncing your eye beams off the mirror! Do you actually go to the bathroom? I mean, like, do you have to eat, like we do?"

"Not really," Superman said. "But, I do enjoy eating. Sharing meals with friends and family." Straightening his posture, he leaned forward, feeling Clark Kent's reporter's instincts starting to cut through the weary fog clouding his brain, his vision, sapping his strength... "Now, how about you answer some of my questions," Kent said.

"What do you want to know?" Freddy asked curiously.

"To tell the truth, I'd like to know more about you," Kent told him, fighting the overwhelming weariness by shifting further into reporter-mode.

Freddy blinked, sitting back in surprise. "Me?"

"The whole Shazam Family," Kent clarified, and Freddy's shoulders fell.

"Oh. Yeah, sure."

"I gather from your interviews that you're not actually related," Kent said. "You each have different parents, different backgrounds. So, how did you meet? Was it the Wizard who brought the six of you together, or—"

"Nah, it's not like that," Freddy told him, frowning a little. "We met as kids in a group home. And we really are a real family, even if we're not related. The magic just, you know, made it all come together. It strengthened the bonds that were already there. That's what Mary would say."

"And Bill is the oldest?"

Freddy snorted. "No way. That's Mary. Billy's the same age as me."

"Really?" The Kryptonian's surprised look made Freddy scowl and fold his hands in his lap. "But, you and Mary call yourselves his Lieutenants. Do you see yourselves as his sidekicks, or—"

"No, uh uh, no way am I a sidekick!" Freddy snapped defensively. "I told you, we're a Family. Partners. It just, Billy's the Captain. That's all."

"All right. No offense," Kent said. "I'm just trying to understand."

Freddy sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just…" He wrinkled his nose a little, picking irritably at his thumb. "If you want to know if there's, like, a chain of command, I guess it goes the Captain, then Mary, then me," he said. "But that's just 'cause she's older..." he muttered.

Kent smiled. "So, you're the J.G?"

Freddy squinted at him. "The what?"

"Junior Lieutenant," Kent clarified.

"Oh." He frowned. "Yeah, I guess. If there's trouble, the others have to do what I say."

"The others being Pedro, Eugene and…?"

"Darla. Yeah," Freddy said. "She's the kid. Eugene is the next-youngest. He's way into computer stuff. Pedro's older than me and Billy, but his big thing is lifting weights. He's never been interested in planning or strategy or any sort of leadership stuff."

Kent nodded. "I think I'm beginning to get the picture," he said. "Thank you."

Freddy glanced up at him. "Are you going to put what I said in an article?"

"Only if you give the OK," Kent told him.

Freddy grunted. "Whatever. Just don't call me 'Sky'," he said.

"Would you prefer Junior?" Kent teased, but Freddy actually seemed be thinking about it.

"My Dad was a 'Junior," he said, his usually quick voice low and quiet. "He was named after my Grampa. But he switched to his middle name after they…"

Freddy trailed off, his eyes hardened against the difficult memories. He blinked a few times, then looked up at Superman.

"Yeah," he said. "'Junior' would be fine with me. I mean, it's still not the best superhero name. But…"

He took in a sharp breath, then shrugged a slight smile. "I guess we can't all be 'Superman.'"

Superman regarded him. "Freddy—"

"No, it's OK," Freddy said. "Really. I mean, sitting here, talking like this, you know, one Justice League superhero to another…" He gave the Kryptonian a cheeky smirk, but his manner stayed somber. "I think I'm starting to understand something. Something that's been bothering me since all this started." He snorted a little and tapped his head with his finger. "Gotta be the Wisdom of Solomon, man. So weird, how that works. It's like, you don't have any more experience or knowledge than you did before, but suddenly you see things with this whole bigger perspective..."

Superman frowned curiously, but Freddy shook his head, looking back down at his hands.

"I used to wonder," he confessed. "…you know… Why the Wizard picked Billy to be his Champion and not me. But now, here, I think I know. Billy's more like you. But me… I'm more like Bats back there."

Superman furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Billy forgives," Freddy said simply. "Seriously. He doesn't hold onto his anger or any sort of grudge. That's just who he is. Me, though…" He snorted, tightening his jaw and his fists. "If someone messes with me, I'm gonna want revenge. There's something in me…this anger. Like, when I think about those creeps who used to torment me at school. The monster who murdered my Grampa." He glared so darkly that, for a moment, Superman really was reminded of Bruce.

"I want to see them pay," Freddy said. "I want to be the one to make them face justice for what they did…!"

He swallowed hard and leaned back against the wall, relaxing his hands with a resigned sigh.

"Billy's not like that," he said. "He always wants to see the good in people, even if they don't deserve it. Like the dude's mom."

"Bill's mother?" Superman furrowed his brow. "What did she do?"

Freddy squinched up his face, and Superman could see the resentment the younger man felt on his brother's behalf.

"That lady," Freddy said bitterly. "She ditched Billy at a fair when he was, like, four, yeah? But he wouldn't accept she'd just leave him to the lost-and-found and walk away. He spent basically a decade of his life searching for her, and when he finally did track her down, she didn't want him. I mean, she literally said it to his face. And Billy… He was hurt, yeah. But, he straight-up forgave her. Like, for real." He hissed through his teeth and shook his head.

"I don't think I could do that. I know I couldn't. But, that's why the Wizard chose him, you see? Deep down under all that tough, street-kid bluster, Cap's got a squishy cheeseball for a heart. That's why the Captain needs me. Me, and the rest of the team."

Freddy blinked and sat up, genuinely stunned by his realization. "Cap needs me…"

"You derive your powers from Shazam, don't you? Zatanna said you're all linked together by the Living Lightning."

"Yeah…" Freddy said, his expression distant as months of sullen bitterness flaked away like rust, gears that had been stubbornly locked finally sliding into place... "Yeah, we have the same powers. Oh my god, why didn't I—"

Freddy shot to his feet, staring down at himself as if seeing his adult form for the first time. He flexed his leg, his hip and back. There was no weakness there. No shooting pain or numbness. Only—

"The strength of Hercules…" Freddy whispered, his chest swelling with awe as he shot the exhausted Superman a fierce, wondrous grin.

"I may not be as big as the Captain, or have Pedro's muscles," he said. "But I think I can get us out of here. Watch this!"

With a sharp whoop, Freddy began to spin in place – turning faster, faster, until he was a blur even to Superman. "Speed of Mercury!" he cried, whirling around like an electric drill, boring through the dense rock beneath him straight through to the level below. He widened the hole on his way back up, then lifted the larger Kryptonian in his arms and flew with him back through to the lower level, away from the power-draining torchlight.

"Thank Rao," Superman sighed in relief, already feeling more like himself after only a few moments out of that awful red light. "And thank you, Junior," he praised, clapping Freddy on the shoulder. "Where did you come up with a move like that?"

"I saw it in a Superman movie," Freddy told him honestly, and both superheroes broke up laughing. They sobered quickly, though, and Superman tried his earpiece again, hoping to contact the rest of the team.

"Still nothing," he reported grimly.

Freddy nodded and closed his eyes, pressing his fist to the glowing lightning bolt on his chest as he worked to focus his concentration, just as he'd seen the Captain do it.

"Oh my god, I feel them," he said and gasped, his eyes opening wide. "My Family. They're upstairs, in the Throne Room, but I can't tell if they're OK, or if they got stuck in a trap like we did. Come on!" he cried, already zipping through the yellow torchlight toward a pillared archway. Superman leaped up to join him in the air as Freddy called over his shoulder, "These have to be the stairs back up to that weird train platform. I just hope we're not too late!"

To Be Continued…


References include - Superman: The Animated Series, Mxyzpixelated (Superman shaves by bouncing his eye-beams off the mirror. LOL!), The Late Mr. Kent (Superman's views on eating and why he needs to be Clark Kent); Justice League Action: Under A Red Sun, Unleashed; Shazam! #11: "The Monster Society Unleashed"; Superman/Superman II; Shazam! ((movie) - In the comics and this movie, Freddy has been shown to be sharp and quick but prone to bitter anger and revenge, both in his own form and after he gets powers. In the movie, Freddy gets revenge on the bullies several ways, from having Shazam wreck their truck to giving them suitcase wedgies when he rescues them); Shazam! #34: "The Fuhrer of Chicago" (March-April 1978, in Shazam! The World's Mightiest Mortal Vol.2 by E. Nelson Bridwell and Kurt Schaffenberger. In this story, Billy has to stop a vengeful, embittered Freddy from using his powers as Captain Marvel, Junior to kill Captain Nazi, the monster who crippled him and murdered his Grampa); Batman: The Brave and the Bold; Justice League/Justice League Unlimited; Shazam! Volume 1, by Geoff Johns, Shazam! #1-11, by Geoff Johns.

Note: There are several "Lieutenant Marvels" in the comics (kids who share the name Billy Batson), but since Freddy can't be Captain Marvel, Junior anymore I figured Freddy being a 'Junior Lieutenant' could be a way to get the characters to still call him 'Junior' in this story. I made up the stuff about his Dad's name. :)

Next Time: Some action! The first direct confrontation between the Justice League and the Monster Society begins! Will Shazam and his team be able to rescue his Family and keep the Wizard's Seal intact, or does Mister Mind have an even more dastardly plan tucked under his helmet? Stay Tuned to find out!

Thanks so much for reading and for all your very encouraging reviews and nudges! Your reviews and comments are always welcome. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter is already in the works and will be coming soon. Please let me know what you think! :)