"Hey, Court, let's grab lunch," a lanky boy with brilliant blue eyes and a curly mop of raven black hair approached Mary Bromfield's new project partner, Courtney.
Both Courtney and that boy had just joined Philadelphia High.
Courtney's cheeks flushed pink as the boy took her hand. He returned her a shy, crooked, dimpled smile.
The pair looked so adorable together Mary couldn't help smiling to herself.
That boy seemed strangely familiar. She liked him on sight.
Not in the heart pattering way she felt towards Freddy, but more in a... brother sister way.
"Billy, meet my buddy Mary." Courtney grinned up at the lanky boy.
Billy gave her a lopsided grin. Then his eyes shot wide open momentarily, fixated on the locket Mary wore, before he caught Courtney's knowing look.
He opened his mouth as if he wanted to ask Mary something.
"What's up?" Freddy intruded, nudging Billy.
"Ladies, meet my project buddy Freddy, the school basketball Captain, International Chess Master, Math Olympiad champion," announced Billy, "and the biggest superhero fanboy in the history of mankind," Billy rolled his eyes, dropping his voice to a whisper directed at Courtney.
He probably knew about Courtney's superhero identity.
Courtney giggled in response.
"Let's all grab lunch at the new Bat Cave," Freddy checked his phone. "Their first cafe outside Gotham is just around the corner."
"He's Batman obsessed," Billy told the girls as they made their way to the cafe.
"Batman's," the best. Freddy picked the pickles out of his burger.
"I prefer Superman. He's nicer," Billy bit into his burger.
"You talk like you know them ,personally," Freddy observed.
"I'm a reporter," Billy deadpanned. "It's my job to know them."
As Freddy rattled on about superhero conspiracy theories, the Math Olympiad and a myriad of random topics, Courtney noticed that Billy had gone silent, staring again at Mary's locket.
Courtney nudged Billy and gave him an encouraging nod.
Billy breathed deeply, then took off the locket he was wearing beneath his t-shirt.
"You know," Billy faltered. "This was the last gift my parents gave me before they died."
He opened the locket, showing a picture of himself and his late father.
"My twin sister, Mary, has one too," he continued as his eyes made contact with Mary's.
Mary's hand flew to her own locket.
"I don't remember anything at all from the first eight years of my life," Mary's voice trembled.
"My parents said I was wearing this when they found me," she took off her locket. "They said I screamed and cried when anyone tried to take it from me."
Opening the locket, she revealed a photo of a little girl and a beautiful woman, both with shoulder length brown hair and hazel eyes.
"My parents think she might be my biological mom."
"That's my mother and sister as I remember them," Billy's eyes watered.
"I had a fraternal twin," Billy elaborated.
"She went with my parents on a trip while I stayed behind with my uncle because I had school. My parents died there," he choked back tears.
"I've been looking for my sister ever since," he studied Mary's face.
"The back of my locket is made of lodestone," Mary placed her locket beside Billy's.
The two halves snapped together into a whole.
Brother and sister stared at the locket for a full minute, then at each other.
Tears streaming down their cheeks, Billy and Mary embraced.
"We have so much to catch up," Billy said as he tenderly brushed his sister's hair aside.
"I get dreams, flashes of memories of the family I lost," whispered Mary.
-------
"Hands up where we can see them. No sudden movements," said a masked man.
He and his companions pointed machine guns at the crowd while two of the thugs smashed glass displays of jewellery in the museum.
"Go do your thing. I'll cover for you," Mary shoved Courtney out the door.
Minutes later, Stargirl flew on her rod through that door, throwing her shooting stars at the gunmen.
Two of them opened fire at her.
A red blur.
Captain Marvel stood between Stargirl and the gun men.
The bullets bounced off him.
His eyes blazing with fury were terrifying to behold.
Another red blur and instantaneously, all the gunmen lay on the ground, their machine guns twisted to wrap around them like cords binding them.
Mary had a close view of The Captain.
He smiled warmly at her and looked very familiar. Not see-in-the-news familiar, but, know-in-person familiar.
He reminded her vaguely of... Her late father, as she had last seen him when she was little.
Then he was gone.
-------
"Billy, do you remember our father?" Mary sipped her soda as she looked out of the window.
"Yes." Billy bit into his burger.
"Did he look like Captain Marvel?" Mary looked him in the eye.
Billy choked.
Courtney rubbed his back until he stopped coughing, "Maybe you guys need to talk."
After a long pause, she continued, "you know, Mary knows about Stars," she winked at Billy.
"Yeah. That talk," he shrugged.
Billy and Mary walked down a quiet alley. There's no one there at that time of the day, but Billy looked around nervously to be certain.
"Ok, I haven't been completely truthful with you. It's hard to explain. I have to show you or you wouldn't believe me," Billy bit his lip.
"Well?" To say Mary was curious would have been an understatement.
"Stand back. I don't want you to get electrocuted," Billy took a few steps back.
"Shazam!"
Thunder roared and lightning struck the boy.
Horrified, Mary covered her eyes.
She just found her twin, only to lose him through freak lightning?
The smoke cleared.
Standing in the place of Billy was Captain Marvel.
Mary pinched herself.
Hard.
She didn't wake up from any dream.
This was real.
She sat on the ground stunned.
"Need a minute?" The Captain, no Billy, asked her.
She nodded.
He sat beside her in silence.
About a minute later, he spoke up.
"I guess Captain Marvel looks like our dad is because, I take after him," Billy, no Captain Marvel explained in his deep baritone.
"How?"
"Long story," he sighed.
"I've got time," she leaned forward.
-------
"So, you said Shazam.." Mary tried to make sense of what her twin told her when lightning struck her.
The electrifying shock pulsated through her body, changing her, filling her with mind boggling power.
She blinked.
Looking down at herself, she was bigger. Built like Wonder Woman but dressed in a red dress with a lightning bolt and a white cape.
"Holy Moley!" She stuttered.
"I don't know. It's never happened to anyone other than me." Billy paused as the answer popped up in his head.
"It's because we're twins," he explained.
She took a step back in shock.
Her foot left a hole in the ground.
The energy swirling within her felt overwhelming.
Sparks started flying from her hands, from her body, accidentally setting the grass on fire.
Captain Marvel blew out the fire before it could spread and held her shoulders looking into her eyes to calm her.
"Easy, Mary, you are panicking," he smiled at her warmly.
She took a few steps forward, leaving shoe shaped holes in the street with each step.
Captain Marvel rubbed the back of his neck. "I know you are heavy footed, but in this form, take very light steps. Just remember that everything is like tissue paper. You don't want to tear anything."
Calming herself, Mary tried to walk lightly, imagining herself as floating and her steps did not touch the ground.
Instead, she found herself floating higher into the clouds, scaring the birds.
"Help!"
Immediately, her brother was beside her, holding both her hands, keeping her from floating any higher.
"Mary, you're flying," he grinned.
"I don't want this. I don't want any of this," Mary freaked out.
"It's okay Mary. We'll take this one step at a time. You've got your big brother here with you in all this," Billy's confidence assured her.
"How do I get down," she looked at the cotton candy clouds below them.
"It's all in your mind. Think of very slowly lowering yourself and very gently landing," her brother replied.
Brother and sister landed in the park.
Two robbers held a family at gunpoint.
Mary saw red as she ran towards them.
"Pull your punches! You don't want to accidentally kill anyone," her brother called out to her.
The thugs fired at her.
She froze.
The flurry of bullets bounced of her.
Reining in her anger, she slapped both thugs, sending them flying into a heap of trash, unconscious.
"Oh no! Did I kill them?" Mary gasped.
"They'll be in traction but they'll live," Captain Marvel gave the thugs a side long glance as he walked towards his sister.
The mother looked up at Mary.
"Thanks! Who are you?"
"Mary," she looked up at her brother. "Marvel."