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He trudges back to his room, bone weary. So much happening, so much to do... and he misses Steph, so very much. He should call her... and why not? He flops back on the bed and sighs. Maybe just for a little while. Even Captain Marvel gets tired, after the amount of effort he has been putting out.
Billy gathers himself again and reaches out. Another four weeks had gone by, Rock time, since he had last talked with Steph. He had been busy and tired. He knows it has probably only been a day or two for her. He wonders... he is afraid to ask... but he wonders how she is doing.
So he musters his concentration and sends his mind out.
::Steph? This is Billy. Are you free to talk?::
Billy gathers himself again and reaches out. Another four weeks had gone by, Rock time, since he had last talked with Steph. He had been busy and tired. He knows it has probably only been a day or two for her. He wonders... he is afraid to ask... but he wonders how she is doing.
So he musters his concentration and sends his mind out.
::Steph? This is Billy. Are you free to talk?::
Billy leads Steph into the Rock with an almost bouncy step, grinning as they arrive in the outer area. He pulls her in for a long hot kiss, then he steps back and whispers.
"Shazam."
And the lightning strikes and he is Captain Marvel again.
"Welcome back, Steph."
"Shazam."
And the lightning strikes and he is Captain Marvel again.
"Welcome back, Steph."
OOM: A few Days of The Rock...
Mar. 24th, 2006 10:07 pmThe Doorway shimmers and then opens, and in steps Captain Marvel and Stephanie. He grins down at her and waves a hand.
"Welcome to the Rock of Eternity!"
The room they are in is a cavelike area, but with a doorway at the other end and he leads her on, into a larger hall, a huge cave where a throne sits and a small well back a ways. Along one wall, seven statues sit, of grotesque figures, and besides trhe throne a torch shines brightly. More doors lead off from the hallway.
"Welcome to the Rock of Eternity!"
The room they are in is a cavelike area, but with a doorway at the other end and he leads her on, into a larger hall, a huge cave where a throne sits and a small well back a ways. Along one wall, seven statues sit, of grotesque figures, and besides trhe throne a torch shines brightly. More doors lead off from the hallway.
Everything Changes, Epilogue
Mar. 11th, 2006 08:52 amIt is only a few days later, Earth time, but almost six months later, internal Rock-time, when , while walking the halls after an intense study and learning session, he sees the Door. There are many Doors in the Rock, leading via magical portals to many different dimensions and places.
Now, normally, he would not know what it is, but since beginning his studies, he has learned some magics, and the most potent of those is complete knowledge of the Rock and all it's ways and means. His senses have been sharpened and alerted to magic in every way the Book knows how. So when he sees the Door it is only a moment later that, with a shock, he knows what it is.
A Door to Milliways.
Over the next few days he tires to forget it. His position at the Rock is permanent, he is needed to hold it there, and cannot leave the rock or it will shatter and it's magic will rain down on the Earth again, causing untold misery and destruction.
He tries to put it out of his mind, but it doesn't work too well.
After several days of this, he takes a different tack, instead using all his growing powers to investigate the Door. He finds it to be permanent, a gate of some kind, and one that has been there for awhile, but just gone active. He learns how to control it and how to keep it shielded. And he learns that it is a genuine gate to Milliways.
He stares at it for long hours son end and then finally, knows he has no choice.
He has to go to the Darkcave and consult the Oracle.
***
At the doorway to the cave, he almost hesitates, almost stops, but then he grins as he gets the image in his head of the Batcave. And, grinning, he passes within.
Within, all is dark. In the center of the room, a greater darkness, the Oracle.
"ASK."
He takes a deep breath, and then he does.
***
When he exits, over an hour later, he walks out and then leans against a wall, sliding down to sit on the floor. He shivers for a long time, thinking.
He can go.
He can go!!
It will be hard, and require sacrifice, and will have limitations, but he can go and spend time away from this place!
He finds himself crying, slightly, from relief, from fear, from the utter strangeness, after six months, of knowing he will be able to be among other people.
He smiles through the tears and begins to plan.
Now, normally, he would not know what it is, but since beginning his studies, he has learned some magics, and the most potent of those is complete knowledge of the Rock and all it's ways and means. His senses have been sharpened and alerted to magic in every way the Book knows how. So when he sees the Door it is only a moment later that, with a shock, he knows what it is.
A Door to Milliways.
Over the next few days he tires to forget it. His position at the Rock is permanent, he is needed to hold it there, and cannot leave the rock or it will shatter and it's magic will rain down on the Earth again, causing untold misery and destruction.
He tries to put it out of his mind, but it doesn't work too well.
After several days of this, he takes a different tack, instead using all his growing powers to investigate the Door. He finds it to be permanent, a gate of some kind, and one that has been there for awhile, but just gone active. He learns how to control it and how to keep it shielded. And he learns that it is a genuine gate to Milliways.
He stares at it for long hours son end and then finally, knows he has no choice.
He has to go to the Darkcave and consult the Oracle.
***
At the doorway to the cave, he almost hesitates, almost stops, but then he grins as he gets the image in his head of the Batcave. And, grinning, he passes within.
Within, all is dark. In the center of the room, a greater darkness, the Oracle.
"ASK."
He takes a deep breath, and then he does.
***
When he exits, over an hour later, he walks out and then leans against a wall, sliding down to sit on the floor. He shivers for a long time, thinking.
He can go.
He can go!!
It will be hard, and require sacrifice, and will have limitations, but he can go and spend time away from this place!
He finds himself crying, slightly, from relief, from fear, from the utter strangeness, after six months, of knowing he will be able to be among other people.
He smiles through the tears and begins to plan.
Everything Changes, Part 3: 1 of 1
Mar. 11th, 2006 07:36 amA week after clearing the demons out of Fawcett, maybe less, he is recruited by the Phantom Stranger to stop the Sins and recreate the Rock of Eternity. He is only one of a huge crowd involved in this. He feels weird working amongst them, knowing what he did, feeling tainted somehow, unfit to walk among them.
But he does, and works with them, including Mary and CM3, who he had avoided for the last few days.
He is chosen for the group who rebuilds the Rock of Eternity.
He searches and works and strives, and they succeed. The Rock of Eternity is reborn!
Then, he watches as the mystics cement the rock together with power and then, when he is waiting with the others for the questers for the Sins to return, Zatana tells him the other piece of news...
the Rock needs an occupant, someone drenched in magic to keep it whole and keep the magic quiescent.
And the only one strong enough is him, Captain Marvel.
And then, the day gets worse when he finds out it is a final judgement, a final assignment...
Once the spell is done, he can never leave.
With time running out, he hovers there and wonders; What do I do?
Then there is no more time, as the Phantom Stranger arrives. with the Shadowpact, and then Sins, trapped in mystic bottles.
And even as he finishes his announcement, Fate arrives, Nabu, dying, revealing that the Spectre has at last been pulled to his leash and sent to a new human host.
The war for Magic's survival is over. But everything is different.
Wild magic rules and most ancient spells and spellworks are undone, magic talismans are all over the world and there will be a lot to do, for those who fight on magic and right's side...
...but even as he sees that, Billy Batson, Captain marvel, knows he wont be there to help, not direct;ly.
"I'll do it."
His words are quiet, but everyone nods and a few bow.
Not too long later, they all leave and he sits, in Shazam's old throne and finds himself waiting.
In the spell-lit room, quiet descends.
Then, there is a voice, one he knows very well. As he listens, Shazam's last message plays out.
"If you are hearing these words, I am dead, and you have been forced to take up my station, a task which I am very sorry to inflict on you. Know this however: No matter how hard it becomes, you were chosen because you are worthy of this and that I knew one day I might have to hand it over to you.. Whatever happens, whatever you do now, know that I have confidence in you. The Book will begin to teach you the magics you will need to stand here and be the Wizard. May it serve you as it did me. And in times of great need, the Oracle, in the Darkcave, will serve you well."
The voice fades and Cap finds he is crying. He sits there, in the lit cave and cries for the past, for the future and for a lost friend...
But he does, and works with them, including Mary and CM3, who he had avoided for the last few days.
He is chosen for the group who rebuilds the Rock of Eternity.
He searches and works and strives, and they succeed. The Rock of Eternity is reborn!
Then, he watches as the mystics cement the rock together with power and then, when he is waiting with the others for the questers for the Sins to return, Zatana tells him the other piece of news...
the Rock needs an occupant, someone drenched in magic to keep it whole and keep the magic quiescent.
And the only one strong enough is him, Captain Marvel.
And then, the day gets worse when he finds out it is a final judgement, a final assignment...
Once the spell is done, he can never leave.
With time running out, he hovers there and wonders; What do I do?
Then there is no more time, as the Phantom Stranger arrives. with the Shadowpact, and then Sins, trapped in mystic bottles.
And even as he finishes his announcement, Fate arrives, Nabu, dying, revealing that the Spectre has at last been pulled to his leash and sent to a new human host.
The war for Magic's survival is over. But everything is different.
Wild magic rules and most ancient spells and spellworks are undone, magic talismans are all over the world and there will be a lot to do, for those who fight on magic and right's side...
...but even as he sees that, Billy Batson, Captain marvel, knows he wont be there to help, not direct;ly.
"I'll do it."
His words are quiet, but everyone nods and a few bow.
Not too long later, they all leave and he sits, in Shazam's old throne and finds himself waiting.
In the spell-lit room, quiet descends.
Then, there is a voice, one he knows very well. As he listens, Shazam's last message plays out.
"If you are hearing these words, I am dead, and you have been forced to take up my station, a task which I am very sorry to inflict on you. Know this however: No matter how hard it becomes, you were chosen because you are worthy of this and that I knew one day I might have to hand it over to you.. Whatever happens, whatever you do now, know that I have confidence in you. The Book will begin to teach you the magics you will need to stand here and be the Wizard. May it serve you as it did me. And in times of great need, the Oracle, in the Darkcave, will serve you well."
The voice fades and Cap finds he is crying. He sits there, in the lit cave and cries for the past, for the future and for a lost friend...
Everything Changes, Part 2: 2 of 2
Mar. 11th, 2006 06:25 amIn a small room, in a burning city, a boy cries.
Soon, he will have to get up.
Soon he will have to face the world.
Soon he will have to try to fight demons and villains and old and new enemies.
Soon.
Right now, he is lost in himself, in his sorrow and pain and fear, in his horror at what he has done.
For the first time ever, he has killed a man.
He killed a human being in the midst of a fight against demons. He knows it must have ben a trick, a man somehow switched at the last moment with the demon he knows he saw, but that doesn't change what he did.
He has never taken a life before and he always thought he could find another way. even when things seemed darkest and most violent, he found other ways, other chances. Suddenly, with no warning, everything is different. The whole world, seemingly in chaos, now is revolving around this simple idea... he killed a man.
Heroes don't kill.
It is a rule he has always known and always kept to.
It is right, and he knows it, feels it to his bones. And now he has killed a man and it feels like... he is tainted, made less, and somehow... broken. Tears haven't stopped. It seems like he has been crying for days, or longer. He isn't even sure, really, how long he has been in this room. He found it in a ruined building, somewhere high, secluded, and far from where he had been.
He did kill! But now he had. What could he do and how could he deal with something like that?
He doesn't know, and so he cries.
It is long hours later when he hears a cry for help. His tears have subsided some, mostly for lack of moisture, and he lays on his side, even after he hears the cry. After all, he isn't a hero anymore. Heroes don't kill. Someone else can save her, someone else will. In the next minute he hears something else though, something that freezes his blood.
The laughter of demons.
A surge of anger fills him. And he rises. The next instant he has spoken the word, and even as he rises on a stream of willpower, he knows the demons tricked him, he knows he has to stop them, and he knows he will.
He also knows that no matter what else the Wisdom of Solomon tells him, he will never be completely the same again. He has killed a man and that isn't going to go away.
He arrows through the night, to save a woman and to get back to doing his job. For the first time ever, he doesn't take joy in the flight. It is just part of his duty, part of his job. part of what he has to do.
He flies off towards the woman crying out. To get to work in a job that has lost it's joy.
Soon, he will have to get up.
Soon he will have to face the world.
Soon he will have to try to fight demons and villains and old and new enemies.
Soon.
Right now, he is lost in himself, in his sorrow and pain and fear, in his horror at what he has done.
For the first time ever, he has killed a man.
He killed a human being in the midst of a fight against demons. He knows it must have ben a trick, a man somehow switched at the last moment with the demon he knows he saw, but that doesn't change what he did.
He has never taken a life before and he always thought he could find another way. even when things seemed darkest and most violent, he found other ways, other chances. Suddenly, with no warning, everything is different. The whole world, seemingly in chaos, now is revolving around this simple idea... he killed a man.
Heroes don't kill.
It is a rule he has always known and always kept to.
It is right, and he knows it, feels it to his bones. And now he has killed a man and it feels like... he is tainted, made less, and somehow... broken. Tears haven't stopped. It seems like he has been crying for days, or longer. He isn't even sure, really, how long he has been in this room. He found it in a ruined building, somewhere high, secluded, and far from where he had been.
He did kill! But now he had. What could he do and how could he deal with something like that?
He doesn't know, and so he cries.
It is long hours later when he hears a cry for help. His tears have subsided some, mostly for lack of moisture, and he lays on his side, even after he hears the cry. After all, he isn't a hero anymore. Heroes don't kill. Someone else can save her, someone else will. In the next minute he hears something else though, something that freezes his blood.
The laughter of demons.
A surge of anger fills him. And he rises. The next instant he has spoken the word, and even as he rises on a stream of willpower, he knows the demons tricked him, he knows he has to stop them, and he knows he will.
He also knows that no matter what else the Wisdom of Solomon tells him, he will never be completely the same again. He has killed a man and that isn't going to go away.
He arrows through the night, to save a woman and to get back to doing his job. For the first time ever, he doesn't take joy in the flight. It is just part of his duty, part of his job. part of what he has to do.
He flies off towards the woman crying out. To get to work in a job that has lost it's joy.
Everything Changes, Part 2: 1 of 2
Mar. 11th, 2006 06:23 amIt is a moment he will remember his entire life. He is fighting demons and humans who work for them. The humans are innocents, but possessed and fighting with demonic strength and power and speed. With odds at fifty to one, after only fifteen minutes, Captain Marvel feels like he has been fighting all day long. He is sore, bruised and bleeding.
The leader of the demons charges and attacks, striking Captain Marvel in the forehead and opening a gash that bleeds and quickly makes it hard for him to see. But he strives to clear his eyes and fight on. In the shadows and through blood and pain he is attacked by the head demon and several other demons, who rush him with their talisman. He had been told by Phantom Stranger that is he stops the demon leader, destroying it's earth host, he can send the rest back to Hell too.
In the middle of the battle, he is struck hard and falls back, blood getting into his eyes even as the head demon strikes against him, looming over him. With a desperate lunge, Cap strikes, snapping the neck of the demon, crushing the talisman... but when he clears his eyes of blood, he finds the demons still there, and that, in his hands is a human, one of the possessed., who is now very, very, dead.
Oh my god... I killed a man...
The words echo in his head.
He reels back from the action, never having killed before, never even having dreamed of it, except in nightmares, and is sick all over the pavement. Then he launches himself upwards, towards the sky, abandoning the fight,. His heart sinking, and his soul shriveling, he castigates himself, disgust, fear, and pain crushing everything inside him. As he flies, he hears raucus demonic laughter behind him, swelling like a discordant chorus.
Tears stream out of his eyes as he flies blindly into the sky, aimlessly.
He has killed a man.
And nothing will ever be the same.
The leader of the demons charges and attacks, striking Captain Marvel in the forehead and opening a gash that bleeds and quickly makes it hard for him to see. But he strives to clear his eyes and fight on. In the shadows and through blood and pain he is attacked by the head demon and several other demons, who rush him with their talisman. He had been told by Phantom Stranger that is he stops the demon leader, destroying it's earth host, he can send the rest back to Hell too.
In the middle of the battle, he is struck hard and falls back, blood getting into his eyes even as the head demon strikes against him, looming over him. With a desperate lunge, Cap strikes, snapping the neck of the demon, crushing the talisman... but when he clears his eyes of blood, he finds the demons still there, and that, in his hands is a human, one of the possessed., who is now very, very, dead.
Oh my god... I killed a man...
The words echo in his head.
He reels back from the action, never having killed before, never even having dreamed of it, except in nightmares, and is sick all over the pavement. Then he launches himself upwards, towards the sky, abandoning the fight,. His heart sinking, and his soul shriveling, he castigates himself, disgust, fear, and pain crushing everything inside him. As he flies, he hears raucus demonic laughter behind him, swelling like a discordant chorus.
Tears stream out of his eyes as he flies blindly into the sky, aimlessly.
He has killed a man.
And nothing will ever be the same.
OOM: OOps, I Broke It
Jan. 31st, 2006 10:17 pmBilly is outside, enjoying sunshine and running, feeling alive again, able to shout and sing and talk. He has been out running, having fun counting off the steps, a simple enough thing, yet denied him for so long. It is strange show something so simple can feel so good.
He finds himself in the woods. and suddenly, glances around, making sure he is alone. Then he nods and Speaks.
"SHAZAM!"
And the lightning comes...and he is Once more Captain Marvel But a loud sparking and popping sound and a small fire also come.
Captain Marvel, realizing too late with the wisdom of Solomon that the connection cant survive Magic lightning, hastily yanks the vocoder away from him and looks down at it in dismay.
He soundlessly speaks.
>oops<
With trudging steps, and stuck, for the moment, in Captain Marvel's body, a very Billy Cap starts back inside to look for Laini.
He finds himself in the woods. and suddenly, glances around, making sure he is alone. Then he nods and Speaks.
"SHAZAM!"
And the lightning comes...and he is Once more Captain Marvel But a loud sparking and popping sound and a small fire also come.
Captain Marvel, realizing too late with the wisdom of Solomon that the connection cant survive Magic lightning, hastily yanks the vocoder away from him and looks down at it in dismay.
He soundlessly speaks.
>oops<
With trudging steps, and stuck, for the moment, in Captain Marvel's body, a very Billy Cap starts back inside to look for Laini.
