A few weeks had passed since Morag's defeat, and the Loud siblings' restored their bond. After Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, and Lincoln's newly powered-up sisters saved Great Lake City Hall, people asked questions about these new Shazams, though the more frequent ones were about where they came from and their names. Sitting in the Rock Of Eternity's throne room, Lori and the others were discussing proper names for their superhero personas, not wanting to be called Lady Shazam too.
"So the big question is, do we all go with Shazam in our names, or do we use individual names?" Lynn asked.
"I like the name Sonic Shazam." Luna offered.
"Ah, because of superspeed and a reference to music?" Lana asked.
"Yeah, it's perfect, isn't it?" Luna replied with a nod.
"But wasn't Sam a big Sonic the Hedgehog fan?" Luan asked, making Luna lose her smile.
"I think we should hold up on finding individual names for ourselves," Lori interjected. "I think the real issue we need to work on first is making a suitable schedule when one of us is using one of the powers,"
The Loud siblings had discovered while they all can power up, they can only use the individual powers one at a time. Like Lincoln, they too could use the single aspects of Shazam while in normal form, and like Lincoln, they could only use one at a time. But now there was an unexpected twist.
Lori had decided to come home for a visit the other day, but her car was in the shop, so she chose to use Speed of Mercury to make the trip easier. It had worked… until all of a sudden, she was forced to come to a stop halfway there. Confused, she couldn't get it to work again, so she had to go full hero away from view to make the rest of the trip, which wasn't bad except that Mr. Grouse almost caught her when she depowered in the Loud backyard. Good thing he was convinced the lightning bolt was just Lisa doing yet another sciencey thing.
"Sorry about yesterday, Lori, my B," said Lynn. That day she had decided to play around with Speed of Mercury just to see how fast she could run a marathon. Apparently, when she did that, she took away Lori's use of it.
"So it seems that we can only use the individual aspects of Shazam one at a time between us all, including Lincoln. When one of us uses a power, the others can't without taking it from the one using it."
"Ronnie Anne's lucky then; her aspects aren't the same as ours." Luan pointed out.
"Wish we had shapeshifting like her. I'd have fun with that." Lola commented.
"Me too," Lucy added.
"Be grateful we've got anything," Luna told them firmly.
"Lori don't you think it would be easier for you to get back next time if you put the runes on your door like we did?" asked Leni.
"Leni, I literally live in a dorm with other people; if I were to do that, someone would eventually see me entering the Rock of Eternity or worse, follow me in and blow our secret," Lori defended.
"I know, but it seems like a totes problem,"
"Hey, where are Lincoln and Ronnie Anne? I thought they would help discuss the schedule," asked Lana.
"Pop-pop was invited to a science demonstration by an old army friend of his," informed Luan.
"Oh right, Bobby said his tio Carlos was invited to the same event and took Ronnie Anne,"
"Lisa, why didn't you go?" Lucy question.
"Isn't this right up your alley?" Asked Lola.
"Please, the scientist posting that event is a pompous, egotistical jerk; there was no way I was going to waste my time,"
"Dude, you didn't get invited, did you?" Luna asked.
"No, but I stand by my evaluation of that guy,"
"We can do something here," encouraged Lori. "Tomorrow, I have to go with Bobby to file that restraining order,"
"That crazy girl is still stalking him?"
"Yeah, and it turned out she's the daughter of the scientist Lincoln and Ronnie Anne went to see,"
"Talk about irony," said Luna.
"Well, if she tries anything funny, I'll turn her into a human pretzel, and I don't need my power to do that. I can take her without them,"
Sivanna industries
Waiting in a large auditorium, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were waiting for their chaperones for this demonstration to begin.
"Tio Carlos do I have to be here?" groaned Ronnie Anne.
"A little break away from magic will do you some good,"
"Lincoln, why aren't you bored?"
"I'm hoping it stays boring,"
"Why?"
"According to Lisa, this guy Sivanna has a lot of defense contracts with the government,"
"What's your point?"
"Remember they confiscated Mr. Atom's body, Ronnie Anne,"
"C'mon Lame-O, I know the government has a long going track record of doing something stupid, but come on, not even they're dumb enough to mess with that body,"
"That's what I'm hoping for,"
Suddenly music started signaling the presentation was about to start. Slowly a man dressed as a stereotypical scientist slowly stepped onto the stage approaching the podium. He was a little taller than Lincoln, with a bald head and large Coke bottle glasses. Suddenly four more people joined the stage, one of which Ronnie Anne recognized.
"Hey, That's the nut Job who's been stalking Bobby!"
"I know looks shouldn't count, and you should always look on the inside, but in her case, the ugly is on the outside and inside,"
Lincoln assumed the girl was the scientist's daughter and the boy standing beside her, concluding they were twins. On the other side, for two more people that look nothing like the scientist and his children. Lincoln concluded that if they were his children too, they would take after their mother's side.
"Ladies and gentlemen invited guests, I, Dr. Thaddeus Sivanna, am here to present the next and greatest in homeland security guard."
"Oh boy, this doesn't sound good," thought Lincoln.
"As you will remember, a while back, we were attacked by a robotic being called Mr. Atom. However, this menace was quickly dealt with by Shazam and Lady Shazam," said Dr. Sivanna. "After its remains were recovered, I have worked tirelessly to understand this creature's very being, and thanks to my superior intellect, not only have I mastered this creature's living technology, but I replicated it for the benefit of mankind,"
Suddenly a hatch on stage opened up, and something slowly rose for everyone to see. On stage was a menacing-looking robot with an angry and intense expression frozen on its face. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were confused since the robot was about their height.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Armagedroid,"
Suddenly the auditorium erupted with laughter as everyone questioned the doctor's sanity.
"Are you kidding us? What can this tiny little robot do?" Called one man.
"Why waste time building it? We have Shazam and Lady Shazam,"
"We even have ten new Shazams, so why waste your time?"
"We can't keep relying on these so-called heroes; humanity needs to be able to protect themselves, not rely on freaks,"
"Still a pompous jackass," thought Carlos.
"You dare to call our greatest defenders freaks?" A reporter asked as several took note of that.
"Those 'freaks' literally stopped a dream demon from taking over the world,"
"They just got lucky, but my machines never need luck; they are perfect because I built them right down to the most menial detail," Dr Sivana insisted, sounding offended that people weren't lavishing praise upon him.
"And tell me how you think this thing is going to protect the world,"
"No, of course not,"
"Then what show is this?"
"Because this is merely a model, the real one is outside,"
Dr. Sivanna pressed the button on the podium, closing the auditorium to shake a little. Suddenly the auditorium's walls begin splitting apart and falling away until the whole building is gone leaving everyone sitting in their seats outside. Dr. Sivanna then pressed another button directing everyone to a hatch that was a few feet away from them and a lot bigger. Slowly the hatch opened, and something rose. To everyone's shock, it was a much larger version of the tiny robot standing as tall as the Empire State Building, and that's wide as at least two football fields,
"How can a machine that big even support its own weight?" Lincoln asked.
"I don't think it can, at least now for long." Ronnie Anne replied.
"Armagedroid online systems optimal,"
Everyone seemed disturbed by the creation, especially Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, but Dr. Sivanna seemed rather triumphed in his creation.
"And there's this setup," said Lincoln.
Suddenly everyone heard a thundering sound coming from behind them.
"Warning incoming threats level 5," said Armagedroid.
As they looked, they noticed a fleet of drones coming at them. Some became worried, and others were about to run until Dr. Sivanna spoke. "There is no need to panic; we are protected by a force field of my own design; these drones are here to help demonstrate my machine's defensive capabilities,"
The drones began firing different ammunition, from bullets to rockets, however; the machine was built to be protected by its own force field; however, that wasn't the only thing it could do, as every time the force field was hit, it would shoot energy back damaging or destroying the drone that fired it.
"As you can see, my force field with kinetic energy redirection, any form of attack is absorbed in the kinetic energy from that attack is redirected back at the attacker, turning their own power against them,"
Everyone was impressed by the robot's capabilities; however, the doctor was far from done.
"Also, in the event the attacking force is in a manned vehicle, my machine is capable of disarming the driver without lethal force,"
Suddenly a fighter jet came flying in; however, beams of energy began to emit from the eyes, trapping the jets in mid-air. Everyone watched as the jet was suddenly taken apart; the dummy placed in the pilot seat was left floating in midair. The chest cavity of Armagedroid then opened up, revealing a massive furnace; suddenly, multiple clamps up there gathered up, for now, to dismantle the jet, before taking it inside the furnace and closing the chest cavity behind it.
"As you can see, my machine got only disarmed the attacker but also safely disposed of his dismantled weaponry,"
"What does this thing do with the pilot?"
"Glad you asked, suddenly the dummy was pulled towards the eye, but it opened up, and placed in a holding cell,"
"I have constructed a holding cell within my machines eyes to safely contain enemy soldiers until they can be properly handed off to the authorities," Sivanna explained. "In fact, my tractor beam and holding cell are strong enough to hold someone like Shazam and Lady Shazam.
"Doubt it!" Thought Lincoln and Ronnie Anne.
"Does this thing have any offensive capabilities?"
"It is not fitted with numerous armaments, should an offensive strike is needed; however, I do not see this machine as a weapon but a deterrent that will protect this country of ours,"
The audience began to share that they were all impressed with Armagedroid; however, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne remained skeptical.
"Threats eliminated, area secured,"
"What is this thing powered by?" asked someone.
"The power source is a miniature nuclear reactor the size of a van,"
"Nuclear reactor! Are you crazy? What if that thing overheats and explodes?"
"I've installed numerous regulators and limiters to prevent that outcome, and even if such an unlikely I'll come where to come close to happening, Armagedroid, is intelligence enough to prevent that outcome,"
"How can this machine know his situation and react?"
"In studying Mr. Atom's CPU, I saw potential, so I reprogrammed it by digitally grafting my brain waves into the machine's CPU and granting him high-level artificial intelligence; in a way, he's become a third son,"
Everyone was disturbed by that statement, but the doctor only smirked smugly.
"That concludes my demonstration, Armagedroid return to storage and awake further instructions,"
"No!" Said Armagedroid.
"And there we go," said Lincoln.
Armagedroid's sudden disobedience took everyone aback, while Dr. Sivanna laughed embarrassed while his children looked embarrassed on stage.
"Uh, kids today… Armagedroid, I am your creator, obey me and stand down,"
"You were never my creator, human. Did you honestly think you could try and reprogram my CPU without me noticing," Armagedroid replied in a different but familiar voice.
"Lincoln!" Said Ronnie Anne.
"I know, I know, you have to find someplace to power up,"
"It can't be. I wiped your code from the CPU module before I reprogrammed it,"
"My CPU is more than just coding; it's me, I merely let you believe you erased my consciousness, and in your arrogance, you failed to notice that I reintegrated myself back into your new coding, and thanks to your brainwaves, I now have a full understanding of this world's military secrets, now no one can stop Mr. Atom!"
"Don't get so cocky; I always have a backup plan," said Dr Sivana smugly. "Armagedroid initiate self-destruct in one minute,"
"Are you trying to kill us?"
"There's no need to panic; this was a contingency plan in case my creation ever turned against humanity; in one minute, its charge will build up a charge that will go off inside it, and the explosion will be contained within the body, thanks to the armor preventing any damage or radiation poisoning, but will destroy his internal systems," Dr. Sivanna said smugly.
"Even when he fails, he's a smug jerk," thought Carlos.
"Very inventive contingency plan, human, but I, too, have a contingency plan. I've reset the self-destruct timer for 30 minutes,"
Dr. Sivanna's face went pale, realizing the catastrophe that was about to happen.
"If that charge builds up for 30 minutes, the armor plating won't matter. It'll reduce this entire area into a crater and poison the area with radiation for 100 miles in every direction!"
"Very smart human, my conquest will we start here,"
"You want to destroy yourself too?" someone yelled.
"My true form is safe within my world, I will not die, but you all will,"
"Well, at least this force field can protect us," someone said,
"About that," replied Mr. Atom disabling the force field. "I've taken the liberty of hacking your systems and disabling any kind of defenses you might have used against me,"
At that the crowd panicked and ran off like a stampede. Dr Sivana tried everything he could with his remotes to get Mr Atom under his control again while his four kids decided to find cover.
Carlos kept Lincoln and Ronnie Anne close by as he made sure they managed to get away from the crowd and cameras as Albert helped with evacuation. "Better do your thing kids."
SHAZAM!
Lightning flashed and right away Shazam and Lady Shazam flew into action. Flying straight at Mr. Atom, Lincoln came in with a powerful Straight. However, the moment his fist made contact with the shield all the energy was absorbed and sent back at him blasting him away only to be caught by Ronnie Anne.
"Lincoln, are you okay?"
"I feel like I just punched myself. That shield is a problem, any attack we can use will just get sent back at us,"
"Time to die!"
Without a second thought, Mr. Atom unleashed his arsenal on both of them. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne began flying around dodging each missile that came at them, some striking the building causing collateral damage.
"My building, my precious company!" Yelled Dr. Sivanna.
"Good luck explaining that one to insurance." Ronnie Anne joked before flying around Mr Atom, trying to find any weak point in the robot's structure.
Lincoln decided to dig underground and attack from behind, taking the chance that the force field would not protect from a subterranean attack. Unfortunately the shield protected him even from below much to Lincoln's frustration.
"Damn it!" He said flying up. "You already wasted 15 minutes on this and then another 15 minutes this whole place is going to get nuked,"
Suddenly they were hit with Mr. Atom's tractor beam freezing them in place. As they struggled to get free they realized those beams were strong enough to hold them. As they continued struggling they both felt their eyes flash which made them smile.
"What are you two smiling about? There's no way you can beat me this body was designed to handle you both,"
"Good to hear," said Ronnie Anne.
"And why is that?"
SHAZAM!
Suddenly ten lightning bolts came crashing down revealing all of Lincoln's sisters powered up and ready to fight.
"It means you got nothing on them," mocked Lincoln.
Right away all of the sisters attacked the oversized robot. The force field did as it was designed for and repelled their attacks, but Lincoln noticed a distinct wobble in it.
"Good work, it looks like it can only handle so much at once." He called out to them.
"Guys I got an idea!" called Leni. "That force field repels right where we hit it so maybe if we move faster than it can hit back,"
"We might be able to short out the force field, that's brilliant" finished Lisa
"Well you heard the ladies, let's do this!" Called Lynn.
With that, the sisters began to hit the force field, but this time one at a time. Right after one was repelled another came in and attacked again, and then another came in and did the same.
"What's this?" Mr Atom asked, feeling the force field build up the kinetic energy faster than it could expel it back onto the enemy. Eventually Mr. Atom couldn't keep Lincoln and Ronnie Anne trapped and focus on the shield forcing him to let them go. Freed Ronnie Anne helped weaken the shield while Lincoln saw his opening and flew through smashing the shield generator and disabling it.
"Hurry up, we've got 3 minutes left before this thing blows," called Ronnie Anne.
"You all have super strength, help me lift this thing and take it somewhere isolated." Lincoln told them all.
Following Lincoln's lead, everyone grabbed on and began lifting it to the sky.
"Dudes, Where do we take this thing?" Asked Luna.
"I can't let it detonate on Earth, it'll poison everyone with radiation,"
"So let's throw this sucker into the sun," said Lynn.
"No, I will not be beaten by the council again!" Mr Atom protested.
"Can we even go into space?" Lana asked.
"No time to play it safe, we gotta try." Lola argued.
Everyone ignored Mr. Atom's attempts to fight them off as they took him into space. To their relief, their magic seemed to keep them safe, and with their combined strength the thirteen heroes threw him to the sun. However seconds later the robot exploded in a burst people all over the world would surely see from the ground, and the blast came at everyone. As everyone prepared to take the blast a mysterious ankh symbol appeared before them, absorbing the blast and the unleashed radiation.
"Whoa," everyone said.
"Once again fate has stepped in to restore order," said the helmeted figure from before appearing.
"You again? All right this time I want answers," Lincoln insisted.
"I cannot give you much just yet, but for now I can just give you my name; you can call me Dr. Fate," said the woman before she disappeared.
"Maybe the historama can tell us something about the name at least." Ronnie Anne suggested.
The group of heroes came back down, seeing the crowd of reporters regathered to hear what they had to say.
"The threat is gone. Everyone's safe now." Lincoln assured them.
There was much rejoicing and pictures taken, while unnoticed by them Dr Sivana slinked away with a look of fury.
"Damn that big red cheese and his horde of caped concubines. There's no way my perfect machine would go haywire and they just happen to be close enough to stop it and disgrace me. No, this was planned on their part."
"You okay Dad?" Georgia asked as she and her siblings came up to him.
"Get in the car, we need to get out of here before the media decides to eat us alive. They have their heroes, so now they want to make me the villain." Dr Sivana stated.
With the Sivanna family gone, the media was more focused on Lincoln and the others asking for their names. For a moment the sisters were hesitant on what to call themselves, when Lily stepped forward.
"I am Secret Shazam."
"Why 'secret'?" A reporter asked.
"You don't expect me to tell, do you?" Lily asked back with a grin.
"I'm Master Shazam." Lori called herself, stepping forward.
"So you're the leader of the group?" A reporter asked.
"In a way, yes." Lori answered, knowing her siblings would have something to say about this later.
"I'm Queen Shazam," Leni said next.
'No fair, I wanted that one.' Lola complained.
"So who has the higher rank, the queen or the master?" A reporter asked.
"There is no rank." Lincoln told the reporters.
"Though there is seniority." Ronnie Anne added.
"I'm Sonic Shazam." Luna said to everyone.
"I'm Showtime Shazam." Luan said, spinning a little for display.
"I'm Crimson Shazam." Lynn said, flexing her biceps.
"I'm Star Shazam." Lucy said, staying still for the most part.
"I'm Wild Shazam." Lana said, doing a faux growl.
"I'm Diamond Shazam." Lola said, doing one of her pageant poses.
"I'm Sage Shazam." Lisa said, crossing her arms.
"So what are your connections to Original Shazam and Lady Shazam?" A reporter asked.
"We're family." Luna answered.
"All of you?"
"Technically, I'm not." Ronnie Anne clarified.
"Of course she is. She's Shazam's girlfriend and our future sister-in-law." Lily told everyone, making Lincoln and Ronnie Anne go wide-eyed.
With that the reports exploded in a flood of questions about the heroes, no longer interested in the origins of the newcomers.
"This interview is over." Lincoln declared before flying off, followed by everyone. At least, everyone who could fly.
"Really Lily?" said Lincoln while they were up in the air away from everyone.
"What? I do want Ronnie Anne to be my sister-in-law someday,"
Lincoln didn't know how to respond, he knew that Lily was much more mature when powered up, but at her core, she was still a toddler, so there were certain things she still wouldn't understand.
"Let's head back to the Rock of Eternity,"
Using magic, the twelve heroes returned to the Rock of Eternity and powered down.
"Oh boy, can you imagine the headlines tomorrow?" Luan asked, ruffling Lincoln's hair.
Lincoln ignored her and went right to the historama, followed by Ronnie Anne. "Hey Mary, we have a question."
Mary's face formed on the surface. "Obviously. It wouldn't kill you to just say hi once in a while."
"We say hi to you every time." Ronnie Anne told Mary.
"Is something wrong?" Lincoln asked.
"Not really, but something's odd. The magic lands are accessible now." Mary claimed.
"The magic lands?" Lincoln and Ronnie Anne repeated.
"Other realms where magic is more influential and common, though often used differently. The council has guarded them in the past, though the connections have been closed in their absence. I think with all of you empowered now, the connections have been re-established. You'll find the routes to them in the train station."
"This place has a train station?" Leni asked.
Suddenly everyone heard a train horn startling them.
"I'm not the only one who heard that, right?" Asked Lincoln.
"All I can say is it wasn't me," joked Luan.
"So, should we check it out?" Lynn asked.
"I think the real question is, can anything from those worlds get to ours through here?" Lisa asked instead.
"There are other ways to traverse worlds; one such way was used when you all went to Slumberland, but the trains are safe. The Champions power them, ie you all, so no one can use them without you letting them. So unless someone or something gets into the cars without you knowing, there is no risk of something following you back here." Mary assured them.
"But something doesn't have to use the train to get to Earth, do they?" Lisa specified.
"If they have another option, then no, they do not. But yes, other options do exist, so you'll have to be wary, just less so with this option."
"What do you say, guys? Should we go exploring?" Lincoln asked.
Everyone agreed and headed in the direction of the train horn; following the sound, they came across a section that was originally just a wall, stepping through to their surprise they stepped right into a train station with a single train pointing towards a tunnel.
"This whole place looks like it was pulled right out of that story about the boy wizard," said Lynn.
"You read the books?" asked Lisa.
"Heck no, I watched the movies based on the books,"
"That figures,"
Everyone entered the head cart; it looked like an average control room, except one thing did stick out. There was a lever with several names; everyone concluded that this must be the name of the other magic lands.
Darklands
Funlands
Gamelands
Monsterlands
Wildlands
Wozenderlands
Earthlands
"Fascinating, it appears this lever somehow activates a portal that leads us to whatever magic land we choose to visit," Lisa theorized.
"But there is a stop for back home," said Lana.
"Best guess there is a station on earth connected to the rock of eternity that was cut off,"
"We have to go to Gameland." Lynn insisted.
"No way, the Wildlands sounds so much funner." Lana objected.
"I vote for the Darklands. This is something I have to see." Lucy said.
"Hold it everyone, I say as a group we all go check out the Funlands and Gamelands first before any solo trips," said Luan.
"I suppose it would be better for us to go together for the first trip." Lincoln admitted. With that, almost everyone agreed.
"Hold on, guys, I think we should wait till the weekend," said Lori.
"Why?" asked Lynn.
"These places sound fun; why not bring along our families? A way to relax after dealing with Morag is just what they need too,"
Everyone agreed and decided to talk to their loved ones tonight about a possible magical trip.
Later that night
After returning home, Lincoln brought out his convincing suit to convince Rita and Lynn Sr. and Albert and Myrtle, who came over for dinner.
"Son, are you sure about these places?" asked Lynn Sr.
"They sound legit, plus we'll all be there if this goes south,"
"I don't know, what do you think, Rita?"
"Well they both sound like a lot of fun; Dad, Myrtle, what do you think?"
"We're game, could it be worse than anything twelve superheroes can handle?"
The sibling cheered before sitting down for dinner, after dinner Lori headed back to Fairway, powering up with Mr, Grouse demanding Lisa stop her lightning experiments.
Back in Great Lake City Ronnie Anne was giving her family the same offer.
"Wait, you're saying you now have a magic train that can take you to other dimensions?" Bobby asked.
"I'm surprised too, but hey, we all could use a little vacation, so this weekend, we could join the Louds and go somewhere fun for a day." Ronnie Anne said.
"It does sound good, but what about the bodega? Someone would have to stay behind." Carlos asked.
"I think we can close down the bodega for one day," said Hector.
"In that case, I will head to the store and buy supplies to make a big lunch," said Rosa.
Everyone cheered, ready to enjoy the weekend and have fun.
Elsewhere.
Sitting in his mansion, Dr. Sivanna was consumed by rage as the events of the day played out over and over in his head, as looked out his window.
"My machine was flawless; my programming was flawless; somehow, someway, they had to have sabotaged my machine. The Shazams are against me, and now more have gotten involved."
Suddenly Georgia walked into the room.
"Dad, General Wade Eiling is calling again,"
"Tell that buffoon to leave a message,"
"Also, the guys delivering that sarcophagus will be here in another hour,"
"Very good, blasted fools should have been here weeks ago. Have it immediately stored in my private lab once it arrives,"
"Okay,"
"Now leave me alone, dear; Daddy has a lot of work to do,"
Georgia closed the door and leaned against it, lovestruck as she remembered Shazam fighting her father's robot. Soured only by the memory of Secret Shazam claiming Lady Shazam was Shazam's lover.
"What a hunk; that bimbo doesn't deserve a guy like him, nor does that blonde Lori Loud deserve my Bobby"
Back in his room Dr. Sivanna looked out to the horizon as storm clouds were rolling in.
"A storm is coming," thought Dr. Sivanna as the lightning flashed, reflecting in his glasses before a boom of thunder followed.
End of Ch 1.