"To tell or not to tell? That is the question," pondered Joey, a little brown mouse wearing a tiny headset, perched on Billy's shoulder.
"Tell her! How else can he ask her to be his mate?" insisted Sophia, a tiny white mouse with a matching headset, balancing on Billy's other shoulder.
"He's a runt by human standards. Maybe wait until he grows a bit more?
Human girls seem to prefer boys that are bigger than themselves," Joey scratched his nose.
"I'm not a runt," protested Billy.
"If she is so shallow, she doesn't deserve Billy. He may be tiny for a human but he has a big heart," Sophia cut him off.
"Well, if Cap's shoulder were a luxury cruise line, Billy's would be a single seater canoe," grumbled Joey. "He's tiny."
"You don't have enough space because you've gotten too fat. Get on the exercise wheel more and you won't keep falling off," Sophia shrugged.
"Then again, he is really small for his age." She relented.
"Hey, I'm right here," Billy pouted.
"I still say he should wait. Maybe if he eats more, he'd grow bigger?" Joey continued.
"He eats like a pig. Maybe he's not eating the right food. He needs more chocolate and peanut butter to grow," Sophia continued..
"I'm sorry I asked," mumbled Billy burying his face in his hands as his squeaky buddies continued talking over his head.
Beep beep.
Billy fished out his mobile phone, Justice League communicator and JSA communicator from his pockets.
"It's the JSA. There's a situation in Washington," Billy's cheeks flushed. Stargirl would be there.
"Go," said the mice in unison as they hopped off his shoulders.
-------
Washington was a battlefield. The JSA was overwhelmed.
Instinctively, Captain Marvel's eyes fell on Stargirl. She was blasting a glob-like creature with her cosmic rod, completely distracted when a black hole appeared directly beneath her.
"Stars!" Captain Marvel dived in after her.
They landed on a thick growth of soft grass in the middle of a field. Something was wrong. Captain Marvel felt his power vanish suddenly when a bolt of lightning struck him, changing him back to Billy.
Not now.. Not here.
"Shazam!"
Nothing happened. Billy was cut off completely from his power.
Stargirl gaped at him.
Smiling sheepishly, he wished the ground would swallow him up.
"Shazam!" He tried again.
"Captain Marvel? You're a kid like me?" Stargirl grinned. Her laughing eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she offered her hand to help him up.
"Erm yes," his face burned with embarrassment.
Standing up with her help, Billy was relieved that they were about the same height. He'd finally caught up with her.
Bouncing around on pogo sticks was worth every single bruise and bump.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"Billy," he replied, trying to hide the redness on his face.
"I'm Courtney," she beamed as she shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you."
She peered curiously at him. "Why do I have a feeling of déjà vu?"
"We ran into each other two years ago," he absentmindedly rubbed his forehead where the lump had been.
"Oh!" Her eyes flew wide as she rubbed her chin instinctively. "I remember. You're that cute boy reporter." She blushed and looked down.
Looking around to assess their surroundings, Billy tried again.
"Shazam!"
Nothing happened.
Billy frowned "We aren't anywhere in our universe or even our multiverse for sure or I'd be able to use my powers."
"How does that work? Why did you keep shouting Shazam?" Courtney looked at him curiously like he were some strange creature.
"When I say Shazam, lightning usually strikes me and changes me into Captain Marvel or changes Captain Marvel back to me.
It's an on off switch I use to turn on or turn off my powers," Billy explained.
"It's not working. That means my powers don't exist here..... wherever here is," he rubbed the back of his neck.
"How do we get home?" Frown lines appeared on the pretty blonde's forehead.
"First, we find out where we are, then we'll be able to find our way home," Billy assured her, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt as they walked on.
Birds chirped and squirrels scurried around the lush green valley. The air was filled with the scent of jasmines. It felt like Earth but he knew it wasn't their Earth.
"You say Shazam and lightning changes you into a forty year old man who is as powerful as Superman?" Courtney piped up.
"I'm not forty. I'm fifteen," Billy pouted.
"I'm fifteen too," beamed Courtney. "But Marvel is way older than fifteen. He looks forty-ish." Her eyes twinkled mischievously.
"Ok, when I use my powers, I look much older but I'm still fifteen,"Billy relented.
"Like an old geezer?"Courtney tweaked his nose.
"What old geezer?" Billy tickled her ribs in response as they rolled on the grass in a tickle battle.
In the horizon, he saw what looked like a mine. "Hey, look there."
"Shall we check it out?" Courtney stopped mid tickle.
"Yep. We might be able to find some answers there," Billy grabbed her hand and pulled her up to her feet.
"Does anyone in the JSA know Captain Marvel is a kid?" Courtney tilted her head curiously
"Nope," grinned Billy.
"Does the Justice League know they let a ten year old join them as a core member of the team?" Courtney giggled.
"Superman knew but he kept my secret. Actually, he helped me get in," Billy gave her a shit eating grin.
"He did what!?!"
"Yep! Batman found out but the rest are still guessing which planet Cap is from," Billy snickered.
"What's it like? Being an adult with so much power?" Courtney asked.
"I got to pretend to be my own dad on meet the parents day in school," Billy smirked.
"And your parents didn't mind?" Courtney could barely suppress her laughter.
"They died when I was little," Billy replied as his eyes threatened to water. "My Uncle Eben who was supposed to take care of me stole my inheritance and threw me out on the streets."
"I'm sorry," Courtney lowered her voice as she held his hand.
"It's ok. That was so long ago. I'm good now," Billy forced a smile.
Hand in hand, they walked in companionable silence through the picturesque valley.
"Wanna go for a movie when we get back?" Courtney tugged Billy's hand.
"Sure," grinned Billy. What do you have in mind?
"There are some pretty good comedies showing in Blue Valley Golden Cinema this weekend," she grinned.
"You're on," grinned Billy. He couldn't believe his luck. This had to be his best day ever, even though they were stuck in some unknown world with no idea how to get home.
Actually, he didn't mind being marooned here if he had Courtney for company.
They reached the mine sooner than he'd liked. The glint of a silvery metal caught his eye. He picked it up to examine. Vibranium
As Captain Marvel, he was fascinated by this otherworldly metal that he'd found back home in one of his adventures. This was where it's mined, meaning they were in Wakanda.
"I know where we are," he grinned. "Someone here is trading this metal for stuff from our universe.
Zzzzztttt
"Shh.." he led Stargirl behind a stack of wooden crates as a black hole materialized outside the mine.
Two ladies in futuristic armour, wearing African tribal jewelry stepped out of the portal. One of them held a brilliant white gem that looked like a tooth in the palm of her hand.
"I can't believe all that Vibranium was traded for one false tooth," said one of them.
"Marvellium. From the black market," said the other as she scrutinized the gem-like tooth."
"That's our doorway home," whispered Billy as he grabbed Courtney's hand and snuck behind the ladies as they examined the Marvellium.
"Intruders," said one as her head jerked up.
Billy and Courtney leaped into the portal just before snapped shut.
-------
Tumbling out of the black hole, Billy and Courtney found themselves in the clouds, falling.
Lightning struck Billy and Captain Marvel reappeared in the smoke.
Courtney reached for her cosmic rod but grabbed air instead. At the rapidly increasing speed she was falling, she could barely breathe.
Her falling slowed as she found herself in the embrace of heavily muscled, red clad arms.
"Billy?" She looked at Captain Marvel, dumbfounded.
Those very familiar, brilliant blue eyes, Billy's eyes, gazed back at her. He returned her a lopsided, heavily dimpled smile. Billy's smile.
Yet this ridiculously muscled giant had to be at least twice Billy's size.
"Billy, are you in there?" She squeaked as she touched his cheek. Though warm, it was harder than marble.
"Yes," resonated the deep baritone voice.
"Weird," she mumbled. "Can I have Billy back?"
Captain Marvel broke into a dazzling smile. "Later. When this is over. On your date with Billy?" He whispered shyly as he handed her the cosmic rod.
Most of the monsters were gone. Only the biggest, a dragon the size of a skyscraper remained hovering in the sky.
"I got this," Powergirl's voice rang through the sky.
The muscular Kryptonian woman slammed her fist against the dragon. The resulting sound waves shattered all surrounding windows as the dragon plummeted to the ground that had already been cleared by Flash.
"Looks like we're just in time for the clean up," chuckled the Captain, no Billy, no... Courtney was confused.