Mightiest Mortals #3

[lissilambe]

"Under a Seal of Six Gods!"
Writer: Don Walsh
Artist: Roy Flinchum

[lissilambe]

The Plaza
“So a week has come and gone, and Fawcett City has a champion of its own,” said the man at the microphone. He was of average height and middling age with a shock of curly red hair and eyes of bombastic blue to suit his personality. He sat in the studios of KWHZ in the City of Fawcett, and he loved this. Victor Craize reveled in it, in fact, reveled in speaking to his people and telling them what to think. “As broken to the city right here at K-Whiz radio, Captain Marvel has come to our fair city, and he’s ‘sworn’ to protect it from all the bad men who would hurt it.” There could be no hiding the derision in his voice as he spoke. “To that end, he’s stopped a break-in at the diamond exchange and driven off this ‘mad’ scientist Sivana, as well as catching a bunch of other petty crooks.” Craize took a deep breath before continuing. “Now the people are swept up in this ‘Marvel fever’ and I have to ask: Why? What has this Captain done? Flown by some skyscrapers and waved to the secretaries as they gawked? Bench pressed a couple of cars? The cops of this city do good work, fine work, and don’t need some sky-hopping gloryhound doing their work for them. Now, this Marvel wants to do some good and that’s commendable. So why do what the cops can do when there’s the likes of Boss Ibac or his rival, Sabbac running around? You hear me, Captain Marvel? You want to be a hero, then do some real good. Stop chasing around bogeymen like the ‘phantom scientist’ Sivana, and do some real good!”

He sipped his coffee and glanced through the viewing window to Sterling Morris and the teen at his side. Some tour, Victor thought. He winked, grinned and turned back to the microphone. “So good people of Fawcett, this is the Crazy Man himself with the final word of the day. Until tomorrow, I want you all to be good to each other out there. This is Victor Craize, for Craized Talk, over and out!” He flipped a switch and swiveled on his chair to wave at Sterling.

The older gentleman led Billy Batson around the corner to greet Victor Craize, lead radio personality of Fawcett City. “So who’s this young man, Sterling?” Victor asked as he held a hand out to the youngster.

“This is William Batson, Victor,” Sterling answered proudly.

“The kid who cracked open Captain Marvel?” Victor asked. He looked at Billy with surprise. “It really was a kid? I thought that was some kind of gimmick. Impressive, William.”

“Billy if you please, Mr. Craize. It’s great to meet you, sir,” Billy answered as he shook the man’s hand eagerly. “Your show is really something. I mean, I don’t agree with a lot you say, but you’re so much cooler to your callers when they argue with you.”

“It’s Victor, my boy. Mr. Craize was my dad,” he replied with a grin. “And you listen to my show? Ain’t that a bit old for you?”

“William here is a very astute young man, Victor,” Sterling answered for Billy. “Runs a newsstand, knows the streets. He’s not your average kid. It’s why he’s starting a part-time job here for us, working in the office, and doing some news broadcasts.”

“Really? Well, guess you made a good impression with our boss, Billy. Guess ole Captain Marvel was good for something.”

“Why are you so down on Captain Marvel, Mr. Craize? That’s twice now this week you’ve taken a shot at him on your show,” Billy pointed out.

Victor smiled at Sterling and shook his head with disbelief. “Guess he really does listen to the show.” He looked back at Billy and explained, “I’m not against the guy, I just don’t see why he wastes his time and all that power on penny-ante stuff that any cop could bust. Not with some of the things that are out there. And as for your compliment from earlier, thanks. I can’t keep everyone loving me, or keep myself on the air, if I just cut down the listeners willy-nilly, can I? And having the people love you, Billy, well that’s the reason I’m on the air. That’s the only reason to be on the air.”

Billy listened and felt something stir inside his heart at Victor’s words. “Makes sense. Thanks, Mr. Cr—Victor.”

“Well, I need to bring William down to his desk. We’ll talk later, Victor,” Sterling said, and shook the other man’s hand.

“Right. And Billy, you’re a bright kid. You’re going to do fine, I just know it,” Victor said with a tousle of Billy’s hair. Billy watched the man walk off whistling while he followed Sterling down the hall, and all the while let the man’s words continue to settle into his brain.

[lissilambe]

Parker Flats
“Phantom scientist! Madman!” Screamed Sivana as Beautia’s electronic ‘eyes’ watched the scrawny bald genius hurl a screwdriver across the lab. “Bogeyman! I’m Thaddeus Bodog Sivana! I’m the World’s Wickedest Scientist! I made the underworld of this city happen! I will not be ridiculed by some radio clown!”

”Of course not, Father,” Beautia’s electronic voice replied. “I would expect no less.”

“And I will not let this city ignore my genius any longer!” he continued to rant as he tore through piles of incomplete machines.

“No, of course not, Father,” Beautia continued to soothe her maker. “It should not ignore you at all.”

“And that Big Red Cheese,” Sivana’s voice dropped off into a malevolent register. “He must die for trying to make me wrong!” He snatched out what he sought and looked it over. It appeared for all the world like a television remote. “Hee-hee!”

“What is it, Father?” Beautia asked. Her internal processors started a diagnostics check of her systems to try and understand the chill she was certain had just run through her electronic veins.

“Ah, Beautia,” he muttered softly now. He unrolled a blueprint and set to work on the device. “My insurance policy against various employers, or my retirement gift to myself, whichever I was going to need first. But I need it now, to prove myself against this damnable city and its arrogant champions.”

“What does it do, Father?”

“I have used a computer worm of my own design to seed the city over the years,” Sivana calmly explained. “To work into the blueprints and designs over the years and add things to the new structures, things I would need. The people of Fawcett have no clue that beneath their witless lives, the city slumbers. And this,” he held up the device to Beautia’s scanners, “this is the alarm clock!” He chuckled and returned to his work. “With this, the city itself will rise up and crush Captain Marvel!”

“Very good, Father,” The computer replied with what might have seemed like a sigh.

[lissilambe]

The Cobblestones
Christopher “Kit” Freeman leaned back into his chair and groaned in shock and defeat, while his cousin Freddy looked on in exultation.

“Stung you again!” Freddy boasted with a laugh as the older boy sunk his head into his hand and shook. They were in Christopher’s studio apartment, small but furnished well enough for the young man of seventeen. They faced the television with the game console between them. One figure stood on the screen jumping, while another lay dead and broken on the ground.

“Dude, you are just too good at this,” Christopher said as he gently punched Freddy’s shoulder. “One more game?”

“Sure, I’ve got just enough time to squeeze in five more dollars, Kit,” Freddy answered as he reset the screen and the action started again.

“Kit” Freeman glanced at his cousin and smiled as his fighter on the screen bravely battled. If Freddy were ever to play close attention to his cousin instead of the screen, he might notice the intentional slip of a finger, a surreptitious miss of a button, or a disadvantageous cough. Regardless, after a brutal digital battle, Kit could only stare in skillfully displayed shock as he watched his warrior drop again.

“Man! That’s what, thirty bucks today?” he said as he put the controller down. “Damn good thing you don’t come by here more often, you pain in the ass.”

Freddy grinned as he drained his can of soda and then stood up. “I’d love to take more of your cash, cuz, but I gotta go. Billy and I have to go and get food for home when he gets back from the station.”

Kit nodded as he stood up. He pulled out his wallet and handed Freddy several bills. “Understood. I’ve got a date later tonight anyway, and you’d just be in the way, little man.” He winked as Freddy took the cash.

“Not so little anymore, Kit,” Freddy answered as he pulled himself up straight to measure the fact that they were the same height despite two or three years difference in ages. Then he grabbed his coat. “You have fun tonight. This was cool, I’ll drop by next week, and we’ll play some more.” He stopped at the door as he opened it, and without looking back, said, “Thanks, Kit.” He coughed a little and added, “I’ll tell Billy you said hi.”

“Sure thing, runt,” Kit said as he gave a gentle push of Freddy’s shoulder. “Bring him along next time, maybe him I can beat.”

Freddy left and Kit closed the door behind him. He then grabbed a movie from the collection of discs near the television and put it in before dropping heavily onto the chair. He grabbed up the pile of bills next to his seat and thumbed through them.

“Tim Karnes, you are a dick,” he muttered as he pulled out one of the red-tipped envelopes, this one from the electric company. Then he sighed.

[lissilambe]

The Terrace
“Boss, Sivana’s not responding to any of our calls,” Thinnes reported nervously as he looked at the bulky, hairy crime lord. Ibac turned his gaze towards the small man and shoved the last forkful of his eggs into his mouth.

“I’m not particularly surprised,” Ibac answered after swallowing. His voice was deep and it rumbled like rocks in an avalanche. He wiped his mouth and shifted back in his chair, the blue velvet robe giving a hint of the powerful chest beneath. “Sniveling little worm.” He took a deep gulp of his orange juice then looked back at his assistant. “Not you, Thinnes.” He thought that over a moment and corrected himself. “Okay, you too. But I was directly referring to Sivana in this case.”

“This Captain Marvel has interrupted a couple of our minor operations as well, Boss,” Thinnes added with a shaky voice.

“Of course. This man may actually be worth dealing with. Flight, strength, some level of invulnerability,” Ibac listed off. “A decent level, if he survived an attack by the scientist.”

He stood up and headed purposefully out of the room. He walked down the richly-appointed hallway and entered an exercise room, where he shed his robe. Thinnes stared back at Ibac’s physique, laden in heavy ropes and lumps of muscle.

“Gather our best men, twenty of them,” he ordered as he gave a test swipe of his fist. Then he stepped up to what looked like a punching bag only composed of metal. “Pull out our heavy weaponry, and have my personal armaments laid out as well. We lure this Marvel down to the ‘Stones and the Flats.” A meaty fist flew out and cracked the punching bag with a brutal echo that made Thinnes cringe. “And we kill him.”

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Beneath Fawcett City
Billy Batson crept down into the boarded off subway entrance, and then jogged quickly down the never-completed tracks. His footfalls echoed endlessly as he ran his questions in his mind. He clambered out of the rail tracks and onto the platform that led to the chamber. The short distance was watched by the seven grotesque statues marking man’s greatest sins, and Billy barely suppressed a shiver. It dawned on him as he looked at them that they seemed so life-like, with eyes that followed him. He finally reached the main hall that held the great stone seat of the Wizard, now crushed beneath the massive block of stone. He noticed a brass brazier, nearly four feet in diameter and scratched his head. He was sure that hadn’t been here before.

The ghost of the Wizard was nowhere to be found, and Billy realized he had no idea how to reach him. He knew that he could figure it out with some help though, and he called his magic word and the Wizard at the same time.

“SHAZAM!”

The stroke of lightning crashed into Billy and he stood again in the form of Captain Marvel. Cast off power from the lightning had also started a fire in the brazier and Marvel watched as the bluish-white flames outlined the ghostly image of Shazam.

“Greetings, Captain Marvel,” The Wizard said as he stepped from the fiery brass plate. “What question brings you to call on me?”

All of the formal fancy words Billy had thought of on the way down now faltered at the sight of the impressive display. Instead, he said in the Captain’s deep voice, “Am I doing this right, Wizard?”

Shazam chuckled gently and walked up to Captain Marvel, a hand resting on that broad shoulder.

“My boy, you’re doing fine,” Shazam said assuringly.

“All I’ve done is break up a handful of robberies,” Captain Marvel continued. “Victor Craize thinks I can do better than that. I wonder if he might be right.”

Shazam nodded and looked admiringly into the Captain’s eyes. “Speak my name, Captain. These are Billy’s questions and I would talk with him about it.”

“Shazam!” Marvel called out and left Billy in the smoking after-effects. “What do you mean? I’m Captain Marvel, right?”

“You are, Billy. But he is also more than you, with his own counsel bestowed by the powers behind my name. You, my boy, have no such counsel and so it is to you that I would give comfort.”

“Is Mr. Craize right?”

“Perhaps. I am sure there are plenty who would agree with him. But because something is easy doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing, and doing well.”

“But you said I had to fight evil as Captain Marvel,” Billy pressed on with his questions. “I just thought evil was bigger and badder. Not some crooks or a goofy mad scientist.”

“Evil is, but you aren’t. Not yet.” He smiled at Billy and slowly moved back towards the fire. “You must walk before you can run. That is how life works. Evil is coming, and you must be prepared to meet it, Billy Batson. Don’t rush these things. And don’t discount that scientist so readily. Not at all, Billy.”

Billy watched the flames dim and Shazam’s form grow indistinct. “What about Freddy? Should I tell him about all of this?”

“Use your best judgment, Billy. It’s why I gave you the magic word. You have a good heart and a good mind. Don’t be afraid of them.” The fire went out and Shazam’s form wavered and dissipated in an ethereal breeze, and left Billy alone beneath the city.

“Sure thanks, Sha—Wizard, I’m sure that’s all you needed to be told when you were a kid.” He thought about that a moment then chuckled.

Then he turned and headed out, leaving behind the statues and curling smoke.

[lissilambe]

The Plaza
Christopher “Kit” Freeman banged on the apartment door, his black eyes staring straight ahead, boring through the obstruction. He heard footsteps, the lock release and then the door opened to reveal Timothy Karnes.

“Kit! How good to see ya!” Tim said with a broad grin. “C’mon in! Can I get you a beer?”

Kit entered the large, well-furnished apartment, taking note of the nice fixtures and appliances. He then glared at his ‘step-cousin’ and shook his head. “I’m here to find out why you’re screwing with my finances. What the hell have I done to you?”

“Kit, my man,” Tim said as he draped an arm over his shoulder. “You just don’t understand, do you?” He led Kit into the parlor and shoved him into a chair. “I could give a crap about you. We’re family insofar as Freddy and I are brothers and he’s your cousin. But don’t get in my way. Blood is thicker than water, but there’s no real blood between us.”

“Wait, this is all over Freddy?” Kit asked incredulously as he looked up at Tim. “That’s why you’re having your bosses lean on my money? ‘Cause I help Freddy?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Tim answered with a nonchalant tone. He sat on a chair, kitty-corner to Kit’s chair, and looked at him with a gaze of false regret. “Freddy’s always had great potential, but his family was always crushing it. I can’t help it if you were so much a wimp that you got sick the night of the, er…’accident’?”

Kit’s eyes grew wide as he started to stand, but Tim reached out and kept him sitting. “You caused the accident?”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, I did. You lived, oh well. I couldn’t care one way or the other. But you were there for Freddy, and then helped him with cash and stuff. And Freddy got stifled again. So now I’m leaning on you and here you are.”

“When I tell Freddy, when I tell the cops, you’re going away, you bastard, and I’m going to laugh!” Kit snapped back in shock.

Tim shook his head now, and replied, “No. Now see, that’s what I mean. I can’t have you doing shit like that.”

Kit stood up quickly, his hands balled up into fists at his side. “What are you gonna do about it? Your bosses aren’t here, you got none of your gang buddies, and I can hand your ass to you.”

Tim remained seated and chuckled. “Can you now? You just don’t get it, do you? Doesn’t matter of course. See, I don’t need to get my bosses in on this.” His grin grew wider and wicked and he then uttered a single word.

“Sabbac!”

Kit watched as ferocious, brick-red flames swept over Tim’s body, and a horrible wave of sulfurous stench crashed over Kit. When the flames had flickered away, a whole new figure sat where Tim had sat. Thick and blocky, and well over six feet in height, his skin deep scarlet and shimmering, Sabbac’s face was framed in a jet-black mane of hair that swept over the massive shoulders. A pair of brutal looking horns curled at his temples. He smiled, displaying a wicked set of fangs.

“You’re Sabbac,” Kit whispered in horror.

“I am the boss,” Sabbac said in a growl like crushed glass dragged over ragged concrete. He stood up, towering over Kit and cracked his knuckles.