Shazam! - Earth's Mightiest Mortal

Chapter Five - My Name Is Captain Marvel

"I would like to request one of your alcoholic beverages, please," Billy ordered.

The woman behind the counter stared at him. He felt Freddy nudge him from behind. It was still the middle of the night, and they had trekked over to the 7-Eleven in Fawcett City.

"As you can see," continued Billy in the most professional voice he could muster, "I am over the legal drinking age of twenty-one."

The woman kept staring. The tattoo of a dragon ran across her shoulder and up to her face, tucking under her dark blue hair. Billy wasn't sure if she didn't buy his story or if she was just staring at Billy's newfound costume.

"Therefore I would legally like to obtain some of your first-rate beer."

The woman shook her head, and brought out a six-pack from behind the counter and placed it in front of Billy. She had probably seen weirder. It was 7-Eleven, after all.

"Thank you!" said Billy, and he and Freddy exited the convenience store, barely even hearing the woman at the counter yelling that they forgot to pay.

Once they were across the street, Freddy jumped up and high fived Billy, grinning.

"This is amazing!" exclaimed Freddy, who sat down on a bench. "What else can you do?"

"You think I know?" Billy replied, sitting beside him.

"Well, buying beer can't be your only superpower."

"Dude, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm not a superhero, and I sure don't have superpowers." Billy explained his visit with the wizard to Freddy.

"So you got abducted by a freaking wizard, and he, what, chose you?" Freddy tried to make sense of it.

Billy just shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Freddy suddenly gasped, and Billy glanced over at him. He was staring straight ahead, where a muscular man was grabbing a woman's purse. Some bystanders were trying to stop him, but it was no use.

"This is perfect!" said Freddy.

Billy looked back at Freddy again incredulously. "You call that perfect?"

"No, I mean, the situation. This is your time to prove yourself!"

"What?"

"Go!" Freddy shoved him off the bench. "Stop that guy!"

Billy stumbled forward and everyone looked over. That was one of the cons to wearing a sparkly suit. It wasn't as if he asked for it, though.

"Excuse me, sir," Billy said, drawing the man's attention. He had a ski mask on and was breathing heavily. "Stop stealing from that woman!"

It probably wasn't the most intelligent first line, but he was nervous. Billy was always nervous talking around adults, and apparently being one didn't help.

The man turned toward Billy. "And what are you going to do about it, Twinkle-Toes?"

"That's a good question," Billy murmured, thinking.

He was about to say something when Mr. Ski Mask punched him in the face, hard. Billy's face snapped to the side, but that was all. He wasn't even hurt. That was strange. But Billy didn't have time to think about that now, instead he returned the punch. As soon as Billy's punch made impact, Mr. Ski Mask flew across the street and slammed into a phone pole, cracking it.

"Woah!" Billy exclaimed. He could hear Freddy cheering from behind.

Mr. Ski Mask got to his feet slowly and starting walking toward Billy. Billy was getting ready to punch again when the man pulled out a gun and shot three times at Billy.

"Aaaaah—" Billy's scream suddenly caught in his throat. Billy could feel it traveling back down his body and to his chest. Before he knew it, electricity had shot out from the lightning bolt on his chest and fried the bullets. They dropped harmlessly to the ground. The crowd that was forming gasped.

"Okay, this is so dope!" Billy shouting, and in his excitement, electricity flowed out through his hands and formed into lightning, which hit Mr. Ski Mask, who topped over.

"Um, is he dead?" asked Billy, who was stunned at what was happening to him. "Someone check if he's dead!"

A man from the crowd stepped forward and cautiously checked the man's pulse.

"Just unconscious," he answered.

Billy nodded, victorious.

"How did you do that?" someone yelled from the crowd.

"Show us your lightning!" yelled another.

"What's your name?" yelled a third.

"His name is Captain Twinkle-Toes," answered Freddy, who walked up.

"Wait, no! No it's not!" Billy hurriedly corrected.

"Show them your sparkle fingers," Freddy muttered to him.

"Okay," Billy said. "Yeah, okay. Everyone, look here!"

Billy took a deep breath and extended his arm towards the sky. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing.

"Hold on, guys," he said to the crowd.

He tried twice more with no result. Frustrated, he threw his other arm up. Lightning crackled out of his hand and hit a nearby car. The alarm starting blaring before being shorted out.

"That's my car!" proclaimed an old man.

"Oh, sorry about that..." but Billy knew how to do it now. He just had to focus all of his emotions.

He extended arm after arm toward the sky and shot electricity out. The crowd cheered him on, but after a couple minutes, he stopped. It was very tiring, and he was sure the cops would be out there soon.

"Okay, folks," Billy said, as if a talk show host. "Show's over."

There were a couple of boos from the crowd as people started to clear out, probably to get what little sleep they could still get at that hour.

"Oh, and my name, is Captain Marvel!" Billy decided.

"That name's taken," whispered Freddy from beside him.

"Oh, then my name is, uh," Billy racked his brain, thinking of names. "My name is..."

Freddy looked expectantly at him.

"Man, I don't know," Billy said. "Superman?"

Freddy laughed and shook his head. "Definitely not."

"Superboy?"

"Lame."

"My name is..." Billy remembered the old wizard. "Shazam!"

As soon as the word left his mouth, lightning cracked up in the sky and hurled down towards him. It struck him and he fell to the ground, unconscious.