I was there at the Rock when it happened, when life changed forever.
Of course at the time, I was just sitting there and thinking about how much I had missed. Heck, in the last few weeks of fighting, I had missed my birthday. I had turned 14 and I didn't feel a bit different. This war? This made me feel different, more lost.
I was standing in the main hall of the Rock when I suddenly felt a shiver go through me and I knew; the Spirit approaching. I walked outside and saw him there and determination filled me. One more time. One more chance.
With an effort, I launched myself upward from the Rock of Eternity towards him..
"AH, THE WIZARD'S PUPPY, STILL TRYING TO PLAY WATCHDOG."
His voice echoed in my head like a thousand horns all playing at once and I was reminded even as I soared towards him that he had once been one of the most powerful angels anywhere. Nonetheless, I summoned my strength and spoke.
"Stay away from him, ghost! I'm warning you!"
Bravado, much? Maybe, but... I had nothing to lose.
Or so I thought.
"YOUR HYSTERICAL THREATS MEAN LITTLE TO ME BOY--NO MORE THAN THIS FUMBLING PLAY OF AGRESSION."
I hit him, he hit me, it was a battle and not a very good one, until he said and did something that had never happened before.
"EVEN THOUGH I AM SOLID AGAIN, YOU CANT HURT ME. AND THIS TIME I WONT LET YOU IMPEDE ME. MY POWER IS RESTORED."
"SHAZAM."
He said it so casually, like one might say 'Ham and cheese and a brandy, please?', and suddenly the lightning split the air and I was changed back to me, little Billy Batson, hanging in mid-air under his magic's power. To say I was thunderstruck was an understatement. A bad pun, too.
"What? You cant do that! I'm the only one with the power to--"
"I THINK YOU'LL FIND I HAVE WHATEVER POWERS I WANT TO, CHILD. NOW, SLEEP CHILD, WHILE I DEAL WITH YOUR MASTER."
He breathed something like sleeping gas and I could feel myself start to fall. He caught me, but I felt like I was still falling somehow. And his hands were so cold, gripping my collar near my neck and somehow in my neck at the same time. A shudder ran through me as I felt myself lowered to rock even as he continued to speak.
"DREAM TROUBLED DREAMS AGAINST THE MOMENT I TURN MY ATTENTION BACK TO YOU."
And then I fell through the rock, and I could hear no more.
Of course at the time, I was just sitting there and thinking about how much I had missed. Heck, in the last few weeks of fighting, I had missed my birthday. I had turned 14 and I didn't feel a bit different. This war? This made me feel different, more lost.
I was standing in the main hall of the Rock when I suddenly felt a shiver go through me and I knew; the Spirit approaching. I walked outside and saw him there and determination filled me. One more time. One more chance.
With an effort, I launched myself upward from the Rock of Eternity towards him..
"AH, THE WIZARD'S PUPPY, STILL TRYING TO PLAY WATCHDOG."
His voice echoed in my head like a thousand horns all playing at once and I was reminded even as I soared towards him that he had once been one of the most powerful angels anywhere. Nonetheless, I summoned my strength and spoke.
"Stay away from him, ghost! I'm warning you!"
Bravado, much? Maybe, but... I had nothing to lose.
Or so I thought.
"YOUR HYSTERICAL THREATS MEAN LITTLE TO ME BOY--NO MORE THAN THIS FUMBLING PLAY OF AGRESSION."
I hit him, he hit me, it was a battle and not a very good one, until he said and did something that had never happened before.
"EVEN THOUGH I AM SOLID AGAIN, YOU CANT HURT ME. AND THIS TIME I WONT LET YOU IMPEDE ME. MY POWER IS RESTORED."
"SHAZAM."
He said it so casually, like one might say 'Ham and cheese and a brandy, please?', and suddenly the lightning split the air and I was changed back to me, little Billy Batson, hanging in mid-air under his magic's power. To say I was thunderstruck was an understatement. A bad pun, too.
"What? You cant do that! I'm the only one with the power to--"
"I THINK YOU'LL FIND I HAVE WHATEVER POWERS I WANT TO, CHILD. NOW, SLEEP CHILD, WHILE I DEAL WITH YOUR MASTER."
He breathed something like sleeping gas and I could feel myself start to fall. He caught me, but I felt like I was still falling somehow. And his hands were so cold, gripping my collar near my neck and somehow in my neck at the same time. A shudder ran through me as I felt myself lowered to rock even as he continued to speak.
"DREAM TROUBLED DREAMS AGAINST THE MOMENT I TURN MY ATTENTION BACK TO YOU."
And then I fell through the rock, and I could hear no more.