Every active member in the Justice League sat in the meeting room, eyes glued to the live stream. The planet Venus, Earth's twin, spiralled out of her orbit, on collision course with Planet Earth.
"According to my calculations, we have exactly an hour to prevent the extinction of all life on our planet," Batman pointed at the image on screen.
"The ideal solution is to move Venus back into orbit, failing which we must destroy Venus to save Earth." Batman grimaced inwardly at the likelihood of the latter, though he schooled his expression to show no emotion.
"Are you talking about destroying an entire planet?" Jayna stood up, fury in her eyes.
"It's unpopulated," Batman replied.
"How do you know for sure?" Zan stood beside his twin.
"The sensors I dispatched detected no life forms," Batman held his hand up. "Stand down. You're wasting precious time."
Glaring at everyone in the room to silence further protests, he continued.
"The surface of Venus is 465 degrees Celsius," he pointed at screen as the camera zoomed in on Venus. "The air is toxic with clouds of sulphuric acid. The atmospheric pressure would crush a regular human, even with armoured life support."
His eyes fell on J'Onn. The Martian's one weakness is fire.
"J'Onn, link us up telepathically and stay here."
Looking around the room, he continued, "I need a task force to move Venus back in orbit."
The obvious choice sat opposite him. "Superman, you take the lead. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, help him move the planet in place."
"My ship can help pull the planet," Shayera volunteered.
"Hrrmph," he waved her into the task force.
"I can be a space behemoth and Zan can be an ice rocket," Jayna volunteered.
"No. Zan would melt," Batman replied.
"Wait. Look!" Mouth wide open, Barry pointed at the screen.
All eyes stared. Venus slowed to a halt. Then it moved towards its place in orbit.
"Computer, zoom in on that red dot at the edge of Venus," Batman ordered.
Disbelief.
His eyes had to be playing tricks on him.
A big guy in a red uniform with a white cape merrily pushed an entire planet with one hand, taking a selfie with the other.
"That's Captain Marvel," Clark blurted.
"What do you know about him?" Batman studied his Kryptonian colleague.
"We met twice," Superman shrugged. "His powers are similar to mine."
Another Kryptonian? Superman's a useful ally but this new guy's an unknown.
"What else do you know about him?"
"He's from Fawcett. He loves Chocolate Egg Cream, a Fawcett ice cream specialty. He helps elderly ladies carry their groceries," Clark counted his fingers.
"Friend or foe?" Batman asked as they watched the big man land on Venus. He had a huge, dimpled smile on his face, taking another selfie as if he were a tourist.
"Friend of course. He saved my life," Superman grinned.
"Saved your-," Bruce's heart raced. A guy who could defeat anything that might threaten Superman had to be...
"Kryptonite," Superman rolled his eyes. He extracted me before it could kill me.
"Hmmph," Batman replied. "So how did you recover?"
"He flew me into the heart of the sun," Superman shrugged.
The heart of the sun? This guy must be as indestructible as Superman.
The League watched the live stream while Captain Marvel casually sent Venus spinning in its original orbit, taking another selfie with his dazzling grin.
How powerful is the man?
"Is he a threat?" Batman asked.
Superman looked offended. "Of course not! He's as harmless as a puppy." The Man of Steel's too trusting.
"Any weaknesses?" Batman asked.
"Chocolate egg cream," Superman replied.
"I mean weakness we can use to incapacitate him if he attacks us?" Batman sighed.
"None," Superman replied. "Look, if you're so worried, he might join our enemies, why don't we invite him to join us instead?"
"Superman's got a point," Barry interjected. "We could use another powerhouse on our team."
"Better on our side than theirs," Oliver stroked his goatee.
"Hmmm," Batman agreed with the general consensus, but one can't be too careful. "And if he turns against us?"
"Supes here can put him in place," Oliver patted Clark's powerful shoulder. "Besides, we were planning to expand our membership roster anyway."
"As per the Justice League's bylaws, l nominate Captain Marvel for membership to the Justice League," Clark, the perpetual Boy Scout raised his hand, grinning like an excited kid. You'd think he'd found a long-lost brother in Captain Marvel.
"I second that," Firestorm, the League's newest member raised his hand.
"Hrmph," Batman stood up, commanding the attention of the entire room. "Let's take a vote."
All members voted through their communicators. It was unanimous.
*
Billy yawned. It had been a busy day. His newscast done; he couldn't wait to home to hit the sack. Thanks to his new job, he had a roof over his head that didn't leak, a door that he could actually lock and a real bed to sleep in. Life's as good as gets for a kid like him.
He slipped out to the fire escape. "Shazam," he whispered. Thunder and lightning answered, transforming him, erasing exhaustion, energising him.
Home's a minute away if you fly there, but Cap decided to patrol the city before calling it a night.
"Mummy!" A little boy bawled.
Captain Marvel knelt before the boy to speak to him at eye level. "What does your mummy look like?"
"Yellow hair. Blue coat. Black pants," the child replied.
Hovering above the crowd with the boy in his arms, he spotted a distraught woman who fitted that description.
"Is that your mom?" He landed before the woman.
"Jack?" The woman ran towards them with open arms.
"Momma!" The boy cried.
"Thank you, Captain Marvel," happy tears ran down the woman's cheeks as she took the boy from the Captain's arms.
Little Billy in the body of Captain Marvel was happy for Jack. At the same time, grief gnawed at him at the loss of Dad and Mom. The were the most wonderful people on earth, but they died at work. Buried when the site they were excavating caved in on them.
Wiping the tears from his cheeks, Captain Marvel landed on the roof, staring at house that held happy memories of Mom, Dad and Mary – the house Uncle Eben kicked him out of.
"Captain Marvel," a gravelly voice shook him out of his thoughts. Not his real voice. It's disguised through a voice modulator, he knew instantly.
Turning around, his eyes met the white slits in a black mask. "Batman," he smiled cautiously. "What brings you to Fawcett?"
"How would you like to join the Justice League?" Batman replied.
That was unexpected. Wasn't the Justice League meant for the big time superheroes. Guys like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman... Billy's heroes growing up.
"Y-you guys want me?" Captain Marvel's heart beat with excitement. It's Billy's dream come true.
"Of course," Batman tossed him a gadget. "This is your communicator. One button, every function you'd ever need. Call us when you decide."
"Yes," Billy replied before Batman could change his mind. "I want in!"