Shazam! - Earth's Mightiest Mortal

Chapter Seventeen - The Power of an Old Man

When Billy opened his eyes he was in a giant stone room with the wizard sitting on his throne, clutching his staff. The Rock of Eternity. Billy looked up at the walls and saw the faces of the statues staring right back at him, as if to say "Well, now you've done it. You've killed us all." Or maybe that was just what Billy was thinking.

He glanced beside himself and saw that Black Adam was already on his feet, staring down the tunnel toward the wizard.

"Finally," said Black Adam. "Finally I'm in your presence, you pathetic, decrepit, senile old wizard."

Billy got to his feet shakily and charged Black Adam, but he knew that there wasn't much point. Billy couldn't best Black Adam at full strength, so he definitely couldn't do it now.

Black Adam didn't even take the time to look toward Billy. Still focusing on the wizard, he grabbed Billy be the throat and slammed him to the ground, shaking the whole corridor.

Billy wasn't going to let him win that easily, though. He staggered to get up but Black Adam simply stepped on his head, forcing him back to the ground. He did this without ever taking his eyes off the wizard.

"Black Adam," spoke the wizard finally, after long moments of awkward silence.

"At long last, we meet again," Black Adam chuckled. "I've been waiting for this moment for ages. The moment that I once again get to face my old mentor. You have no idea how strong I, your champion, have grown to become."

"You are no longer my champion. You disgraced the name of the gods whose powers lie within you. I have a new champion now," replied the wizard from under his hooded cloak.

"This pathetic thing?" Black Adam asked, kicking lazily at Billy's head. "He is the disgraceful one. You waited too long, old man. You were just too hesitant to trust anyone after me, eh? You realized that even someone as promising as me could 'disappoint' you in the end. So you looked for someone perfect, didn't you? Someone exactly right. Except you were too particular. You waited too long, and then you had to settle on him. Really? I'm insulted. You picked the most imperfect person for the job, and you picked him too late for him to figure out the true lengths his powers will go. I've fought him. He barely uses 1% of his capacity. He has no clue what he can do. But there's no use crying over spilt milk. I'm back now, and things are going to change around him. First, I'm going to finish what I started. I killed everyone else here, and so I think it's time to get rid of you."

Billy watched hopelessly on the ground as Black Adam inched closer to the wizard. He wanted to scream out, or try to help, but he had done everything he could. He had fought until his could no longer. So now he resigned to simply watch as Black Adam came closer to the wizard. But the wizard didn't seem scared. If anything, it looked like he was smiling. But Billy couldn't let the wizard die. He couldn't let Black Adam win.

"You won't kill him," said Billy suddenly. "He's too valuable to you."

"No, not at all," Black Adam said smugly. "I don't get my powers from him anymore, young Champion. He is worth nothing to me alive."

"Oh, really?" Billy asked. "Because I just assumed that you would want to be even more powerful than you are now."

"That is impossible," Black Adam said. "There is no way for me to become more powerful that I already am."

"Okay, well just imagine this," said Billy. "Your powers and my powers combined. Now that's powerful."

Black Adam snorted. "Please, your powers are puny."

"No, not at all," said Billy, mimicking Black Adam's deep voice. "You see, I'm the puny one, remember. I haven't figured out my potential at all. But you have, and you would be able to use my powers and your powers at maximum capacity."

"How?" Black Adam asked, still defensive but now curious. "That's impossible. And what does it have to do with my sparing the wizard."

"Well, unlike you, I still get my powers from the wizard," Billy said, having no idea if anything coming from his mouth was actually true or not. He wasn't worried about telling the truth. He was worried about beating Black Adam. And there was only one way to do that. "Therefore, if you kill the wizard, my powers go poof. Catching my drift now?"

"Okay fine," said Black Adam, who was obviously annoyed but was taking the bait. "So how do I obtain your powers?"

"Well, first," said Billy, getting to his feet shakily. "You've got to come and get them."